Dark Desires
by redsandman99
Summary: It's been a year and Randy still wants Jeff. And with Jay seemingly out of the way, can the Viper get what he wants this time?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the sequel to Obsessed. I don't know what the hell happened to this story. I meant to write it ages ago but uh....well obviously that didn't happen *kicks self for procrastinating* **

.....

"Jeff? Jeff? Jeff wake up."

Jeff mumbled unhappily and turned away from the voice. "Go away" were the only understandable words that came out of his mouth.

The person sighed in frustration. "Jeff it's four in the afternoon. You can't sleep all day."

_Wanna bet?_ Jeff thought to himself as he reluctantly rolled back over and opened his eyes so he could look at Matt. His older brother was looking at him with a worried look on his face. "Matt I'm tired," Jeff mumbled sleepily, hoping that Matt would buy that and leave him the fuck alone.

Matt shook his head. "Jeff come on, please get out of bed. You and I both know that you aren't tired."

"You don't know anything," Jeff snapped. He glared at Matt angrily. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because that's what I've BEEN doing and it's obviously not doing you any good," Matt replied. He pulled the covers off of Jeff's body and put them on the floor. "Look, I know this whole thing with Jay has sucked royally. I wish that there was something that I could do for you to make the pain go away."

Jeff looked down. Jay was the last thing he person he wanted to talk about. After Randy had left the WWE, Jeff and Jay had gotten pretty serious. They spent every moment they could together, and Jeff had actually moved into Jay's house down in Tampa. For eight months, things had been absolutely perfect. But when Jeff left the WWE to take a break from wrestling, things had started to go downhill. Jay had seemed supportive of Jeff's decision to walk away from the business, and for about a month, they were able to make the long distance thing work. But then every time they were together, Jeff had begun feeling a subtle yet constant pressure from Jay to come back on the road. He had ignored it for awhile, but then he had to tell Jay to stop because it was making him feel bad. Jay had stopped for awhile, but then he started doing it again after a few weeks. That had kick started the fighting that took place over the last couple months of their relationship. Jay hated being alone on the road and wanted Jeff to be with him. Jeff had been sympathetic, but had stuck to his guns and said that he needed a break because he was burned out and he was hurt that Jay didn't seem to understand that. Then Jay took that the wrong way and thought it meant that Jeff needed a break from him, which was not the case at all. Jeff had missed Jay constantly....no, he STILL missed Jay, even though he had been the one to actually initiate the break-up.

The break-up had happened just last week. The two of them had gotten into a nasty fight over the phone and Jeff had wanted to try to make things right. ECW and Smackdown were going to be in Orlando that weekend and Jeff had driven there just to see Jay. But when he had gotten there, he had found Jay with another man. He didn't know who the guy was exactly; it seemed like the guy was just a twink that Jay had picked up from a bar or strip club. But it didn't really matter at that point. Jeff had freaked out, screaming at Jay and making a huge scene. Jay had tried to explain himself, but Jeff hadn't listened to a word that was said. He had been way too upset. After tossing a lamp at Jay's head, he stormed off and drove all the way back to Tampa as fast as he could. When he had gotten back to the house he and Jay shared, he packed what he could in a couple of duffel bags, took their dog Lizzie and left. He had come back to North Carolina completely heartbroken, and he hadn't been able to do much but just lay in bed since the whole thing had happened. Jay had called a million times and had even tried to stop by a couple different occassions, but Jeff refused to see or speak to him. He hadn't even dared think about who was going to get his stuff from Jay's place. First he had to figure out how he was going to get through a day without feeling completely miserable.

Jeff got so lost in his thoughts that he forgot about Matt being in the room with him until he felt Matt's arms around him. "Jeff please, don't keep doing to yourself," Matt begged. "I know you need time to deal with this and I want to give it to you, but what you're doing...you barely eat, you don't sleep and you're pretty much drinking yourself to death at the rate you're going."

"I fail to see the downside of that," Jeff muttered darkly.

Matt's sighed and just hugged Jeff tighter. "Don't talk like that bro. You're going to get through this. It's just going to take time."

_I don't want it to take time,_ Jeff thought unhappily. _I would like to stop feeling miserable right now._

The door (which hadn't been shut all the way by Matt when he came in) creaked open and Lizzie and Lucas wandered in. Jeff reached down so he could pick up Lizzie and hold her tight. Even though she sometimes made him think about Jay, he hadn't been able to leave her behind back in Florida. He loved her too much for that. _At least she won't cheat on me with a whore,_ he thought as he kissed her on the head. _I guess I got that going for me anyway._

........

_Randy stared at Jeff without moving or making a sound. Jeff had his back to him and was oblivious to the fact that he was standing there. He listened to Jeff hum under his breath for a moment before slowly stepping forward. With every step he took, Jeff's humming got louder and Hardy began swaying his hips from side to side. Randy barely held back a groan. Just watching Jeff carry on like that was turning him on so much._

_After letting Jeff dance around for just a little bit longer, Randy grabbed Hardy by the waist and pulled him back so that the older man's ass was pressed up against his groin. "You feel that Jeff?" he asked, his mouth so close to Jeff's ear that his hot breath was bathing Hardy's neck. "Do you feel what you're doing to me?"_

_"Leave me alone Orton," Jeff said, his voice weak and shaky._

_"I can't." Randy began kissing Jeff's neck while letting his hands roam the other man's body. "You're too hard to resist." His hand reached down and began groping Jeff's crotch covered jeans. Jeff whimpered and involuntarily began grinding up against Randy's hand. Randy smirked and quickly reached into Jeff's pants so he could grab Jeff's dick and stroke it. "You're getting so hard," he whispered, biting Jeff's earlobe. "You like what I do to you don't you? You filthy little--_

Randy wrenched himself awake so violently that he just about fell off the bed. His cock was straining to get out of his boxers and his body was covered in a light sweat. He took several deep breaths in an effort to get a hold of himself. _First Jeff dream in two days. That's progress....I guess._

He rubbed his eyes and then glanced at the clock. It was four thirty in the afternoon. He had laid down a couple hours ago because he had a headache. The headache hadn't gone away though. In fact, it almost seemed like it was worse. _It was that stupid dream. Fuck, it's been a fucking year since I've even seen Jeff. This shouldn't still be going on._

Deciding that laying down wasn't going to do anymore good, he decided to get up and take a shower. He rolled out of bed and walked to the bathroom, doing his best to ignore his aching cock. On his way to the bathroom, he saw his answering machine light blinking. He decided to just ignore that too for now. More than likely it was either his mom or dad. The two of them did not know how to leave him alone. His mom was constantly worried about him and his dad kept insisting that he should try to mend fences with the WWE and Vince McMahon. But his parents didn't know about the whole Jeff thing and they didn't know that if he even dared step foot in a WWE locker room, Mark would decapitate him in two seconds flat.

Stripping off his boxers and tossing them carelessly on the bathroom floor, Randy got in the shower and turned on the water as cold as he could stand it. He shivered as the ice cold water pelted his body, his erection disappearing within seconds. He had to do this every time he had a dream about Jeff. When he had first gone into exile, he had spent most of his time in the shower, freezing his ass off and trying to tell himself that the obsession had to stop. Jeff wasn't going to be his. As much as it pained him to admit it, he hadn't gotten what he wanted. Jeff was with Jay, and if he even looked at Hardy again (much less try to make the Enigma his), he was going to get slaughtered by one very angry Undertaker. In an effort to try to rid himself of his own obsession, he had gotten rid of his computer so he wouldn't try to look for pictures of Jeff and he stayed as far away as he could on TV on the nights that wrestling was on. The rational part of his brain knew that if he saw Jeff again, he would more than likely give in to his obsession yet again.

After he was done in the shower, he put his boxers back on and then went to his bedroom so he could get dressed. His most recent dream about Jeff was trying to replay itself in his head, but he refused to indulge himself. It was bad enough that he still had dreams about the Rainbow Haired Warrior; if he let those dreams fuck with him while he was awake....well there was no telling what the hell he would do.

When he was dressed he decided that he needed to go out and get something to eat. The local barbeque place he liked to go to had plenty of beer on tap and he could get himself somewhat drunk before he headed over to the local night club and find someone to fuck for the night. The idea behind his plan was that he was hopefully going to find someone that could make him forget about Jeff, even if it was just for a little while. But if that didn't happen, he figured that he could just pretend the slut he brought home was Jeff and do all the things to him that he wanted to do to the real Jeff.

_Option two is definitely more likely to happen and well...a little pretending never hurt anyone._


	2. Chapter 2

"So Jeff's still not doing well?"

"Nope," Matt confirmed as he sat down. He was on the phone with Adam, who was calling to check on Jeff. "He's completely heartbroken." He looked over at Lucas, who was trying to get Lizzie to play with him. Lizzie was refusing to play though. She hadn't been very playful since she and Jeff had come back to North Carolina. Matt was convinced that she knew that all was not well between her daddies and was sad because of it. Lucas had gotten the same way after he and Amy had split up.

"Has he talked to Jay at all?" Adam asked.

"No. He doesn't want to talk to him so I've been keeping the asshole at bay. What about you? Have you talked to him?"

"Yeah, he calls me every night since Jeff won't talk to him."

"What does he say to you?"

"Lots of stuff. He regrets what he did. I can tell that much. I know this might not mean much to you or Jeff, but he's definitely sorry and wishes he hadn't--"

"Cheated on Jeff?" Matt finished with a snort. "Yeah well, sorry really doesn't change anything. He hurt Jeff really fucking badly."

"I know--"

"How many times did he cheat on Jeff anyway? I mean, I doubt last week was the first time--"

"Matt! I don't fucking know, alright? We had this conversation three days ago and my answer is still the same. I don't know whether Jay cheated before this or not. I didn't even know that he and Jeff were having problems in their relationship. Neither of them told me a damn thing!"

Matt sighed. He hadn't known that Jeff and Jay's relationship had been on the rocks until the break-up actually happened. It was something that he hadn't seen coming at all. Jay had been so great during Jeff's ordeal with Randy and to have this happen...Matt still couldn't believe it. "Sorry," he said. "I just...I don't know what to do. Jeff's just really hurting right now and it's getting to me."

"It's alright," Adam assured him. "I get it."

"No really, I shouldn't be taking anything out on you. This isn't your fault."

"I know, but Jeff's your brother. I know you hate seeing him like this."

Matt rubbed his eyes. Adam was right. He really did hate seeing Jeff like this. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to snap Jeff out of the funk he was now in. Everything he had tried so far had failed miserably. It was driving him absolutely insane. "I just wish that I could make him feel better," he confessed. "I mean, I know these things take time to get over, but I just wish that I could ease his pain just a little bit."

"I know. I wish you could too." There was some muffled sounds coming from Adam's side of the line. "Shit, Matt, I have to go," Adam said. "I've got company."

Matt almost asked if Jay was the company, but he decided against it. Jeff was upset enough as it was and he didn't want the distraught man to overhear him chewing out his cheating ex. "Okay," he said. "Bye Adam."

"Bye Matt."

Matt hung up the phone and set it aside. He hadn't been getting a lot of sleep lately because he had been so worried about Jeff. _I definitely need to try to take a nap or something,_ he told himself. _I can't keep running on empty like this for much longer. I need to get some rest._

But just as Matt was about to close his eyes, the phone rang again. "You have got to be kidding me," he groaned. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. For a moment he thought about ignoring it but then he decided to just go ahead and answer it while he was still awake anyway. "Hello?"

"Hey." It was Mark. "Can I talk to Jeff?"

"Yeah sure," Matt said as he got up to his feet. "Hold on." He went to Jeff's room and knocked on the door. "Jeff?" He slowly opened the door and found that Jeff was sleeping. Being as quiet as he could, he closed the door and headed back to the living room. "Hey Mark? He's sleeping right now."

"Oh, okay," Mark said. "How is he?"

"Not so good," Matt replied honestly. He couldn't lie to Mark. Mark always knew somehow. It was actually kind of creepy. "I still can't get him out of bed long enough to do anything but go to the bathroom and shower."

Mark sighed. "Damn. I've already throttled Jay once and now I'm gonna have to do it again."

Matt's lips twitched slightly. Mark sounded so much like a grumpy, overprotective Poppa Bear. It was actually kind of funny. "Just don't bruise his face too much. I know it's tempting but McMahon--"

"McMahon can kiss my ass," Mark said gruffly. "If I choose to punch Jay in the face, then I damn well will do it." He took a deep breath. "Did you get the rest of Jeff's stuff yet?"

"No, not yet," Matt admitted. "Jay hasn't mailed any of it up yet. I think he wants Jeff to come down and get it so he can try to talk to him."

Mark just grunted. He obviously didn't like the sound of that.

"And I've been busy here with Jeff, so I haven't had a chance to go down there myself and get it," Matt went on. "But I was thinking that after the Smackdown taping and the house shows this week, I would go to Tampa and get the stuff. I mean, Jay's doing a mini injury angle, so I know he'll be home this week and I can finally have a confrontation with him that I don't have to worry about Jeff seeing."

"Who's going to be staying with Jeff while you're gone?" Mark asked. "He shouldn't be left alone right now."

"Dad, Shannon and Kimo are gonna take care of him," Matt assured the older man.

"Good."

There was a few seconds of silence. Then Matt asked something that he had been asking himself since this had happened. "We're gonna get Jeff through this, right?" he asked uncertainly. "I mean....we'll be able to help him get over Jay, won't we?"

Mark sighed. "God I hope so. I really really do.

__

That wasn't exactly the vote of confidence I was looking for

Matt thought to himself. _But I guess it's the only one I'm gonna get, so I'll take it._

....

Randy splashed some cold water on his face. He was back from the bar and he was pretty drunk. There was definitely a killer hangover in his future. But he was still nowhere near as drunk as the slut that was waiting for him in his bedroom. The slut's name was Kevin, and even though he claimed to be twenty one, he was definitely not any older than nineteen. Randy had spotted him in the bar with his friends, and had decided that he looked enough like Jeff to make it worth his time. He had gone over to the kid and had charmed him almost immediately. Kevin had been tipsy from the very beginning, so Randy only had to feed him a few more strong drinks to make him drunk off his ass.

Randy dried his face off with the towel that was hanging on the rack before he went back to his room. Kevin was looking around his room, touching things he wasn't supposed to be touching. "Come here," Randy ordered, trying to ignore the way the vein near his eye was twitching.

Kevin stumbled over to him. "Hey, I um--"

Randy didn't let him finish his sentence. Instead he grabbed the younger man by the hair and roughly kissed him. Kevin had really long blonde hair and soft facial features that reminded Randy of Jeff. _But the kid's not Jeff_, a voice in his head unhappily said _He doesn't have Jeff's eyes or tattoos and he's shorter than Jeff is and his mouth sure as hell doesn't TASTE the way Jeff's mouth does..._

He growled and kissed Kevin even more roughly. _It doesn't matter,_ he told himself. _He'll work for tonight._

Kevin whimpered as Randy broke the kiss a couple minutes later. "Tonight your name is Jeff," Randy said quietly but firmly. "That's alll you're to respond to. You understand me?"

Kevin nodded. His lips were swollen from their kiss and his mind was clouded by all the alcohol that he had consumed earlier.

"Good," Randy said. He put his hands on Kevin's shoulders and shoved the younger man down to his knees. "Now suck me."

Kevin nodded again, his hands eagerly working to get Randy's jeans off. Randy stared down at him emotionlessly, only moving when it came time for him to lift his feet up so his jeans could be discarded. Kevin eagerly took Randy's cock in his mouth all at once, sucking on it like there was no tomorrow. Randy smirked and grabbed the slut's blonde locks. How easily Kevin was going along with this was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, not having Kevin complain and whine like a bitch saved him some trouble and frustration. Kevin knew his place very well. But on the other, the challenge Jeff had presented was one of the things that turned him on just as much as it frustrated him.

"Fuck yeah," he grunted, pulling on Kevin's hair hard enough to make Kevin whimper. He began thrusting into Kevin's mouth, gagging him with his cock. "You like that, don't you Jeff? Huh? Fucking tell me you like it."

Kevin tried to pull away but when he realized that Randy wasn't letting him go, he somehow managed to just nod instead. Randy smirked and fucked the younger man's mouth harder. He was doing everything he could to imagine that it was Jeff, and for one brief moment, he actually saw Jeff there, on his knees, getting mouth fucked by his large, thick cock. He licked his lips and stared down at Jeff, loving the way Jeff was gagging and whining below him. But then Jeff changed back to Kevin and Randy growled. The lie had disappeared way too quickly for his taste.

"Get up," he ordered as he yanked Kevin up by his hair. "Take off your clothes and get on the bed. Make sure you get on your hands and knees when you do it."

"Randy--" Kevin started to say.

"Now Jeff," Randy growled.

Kevin gulped and quickly did what he was told. Randy watched him carefullly, images of Jeff filling his head. But as hard as he tried, he couldn't get the image of Jeff to stay permanently. It was starting to piss him off. He wanted to be able to pretend Kevin was Jeff without any problems. He tilted his head to the side as Kevin got climbed on to the bed on his hands and knees. His skin was smooth and pale, but it was missing Jeff's tattoos. Randy took off his shirt and then ran his fingers up and down Kevin's spine. Kevin shivered under the Legend Killer's touch. Randy liked that and he got on the bed and positioned himself behind the smaller man. Grabbing a hold of his temporary Jeff's small hips, he pushed his cock inside of him as quickly as he could. He was immediately met by resistence from the tight heat, and he had to push even harder to get all the way. _Someone was a virgin before tonight._

"Ow ow ow," Kevin whimpered. The pain he was in could be heard clearly in his voice. "Randy wait....wait...damn it...."

Randy grabbed Kevin by the hair and yanked him up just a little bit. "Is that too rough for you Jeff? Huh?" He smacked Kevin's ass before roughly pushing his head away. He began thrusting in and out of Kevin as fast as he could. The tight heat clamped down around his dick felt great, but it didn't feel like Jeff. None of the people he had ever brought home ever felt like Jeff, no matter how hard he tried to pretend they did. "Nah, that's not too rough for you," he grunted. "It's never too rough for you. You just like to pretend it is. Don't you Jeff?"

Kevin whimpered and nodded, probably just to appease Randy. Randy smacked Kevin's ass again and then focused on remembering the noises Jeff made during the few times he had managed to fuck the Enigma. He was able to recall them perfectly, and soon enough he was lost in the memories, actualy almost able to feel Jeff writhing around underneath him while his tight heat squeezed his dick...

Randy groaned and slammed into Kevin a few more times as hard as he could before orgasming. Kevin's shaky arms gave out on him and he collapsed down on the bed. Randy took a deep breath. He felt a little bit satisfied, but there was an empty feeling inside of him at the same time, and that was definitely more dominant at the moment. _Fucking hell,_ he thought as he shook his head. _This sucks. _He pulled out of Kevin and threw some blankets over the sore boy before leaving the room. He needed another drink before he went insane.


	3. Chapter 3

Matt and Gil invited Jeff to come with them when Gil dropped Matt off at the airport the next morning but Jeff refused to go. The last thing he wanted to do was sit in a car for an hour while his brother and father made not so subtle attempts to cheer him up. Matt almost looked like he wanted to insist, but Gil dragged him out of the room. Jeff could hear a little argument break out between them but luckily the sound was muffled enough that he could tune it out easily enough. Sighing deeply, he took his blanket and put it over his head. Even though his back was starting to hurt from laying for so long, he still didn't intend to do anything but lay in bed and mope today.

_Fuck, I am pathetic,_ he thought to himself as he tried to make himself comfortable. _I hope you're happy Jay, because this is what you have fucking reduced me to._

"Okay, rise and shine Jeff," Shannon said loudly as he walked in uninvited. I heard him switch on my light and then yank the covers right off my body. "I'm not having any of this bullshit. You're getting up and you're going to at least act a tiny bit human."

Jeff groaned and glared at Shannon like he was the devil. "Why?"

"Because I said so," Shannon replied, ignoring my glare. "What you're doing right now is not healthy. You need to quit wallowing in your own misery and try to distract yourself. Once you stop thinking about that asshole as much, you'll start feeling less miserable."

Jeff shook his head. That was easy for Shannon to say. Shannon wasn't the one that got cheated on.

Shannon rolled his eyes before jumping on the bed and grabbing Jeff's ankles. "You will be getting up today or I am putting you in the Sharpshooter," he threatened.

Jeff looked at him in disbelief. "You wouldn't dare," he said.

"Oh yeah?" Shannon began setting up the move. "Bret Hart is back baby and the Sharpshooter is cooler than it ever has been. So suck on that biznitch!"

"Wait, what? That didn't make any sense!"

"It wasn't supposed to. It was just supposed to distract you while I did this!" Shannon quickly turned Jeff over and cinched in the Sharpshooter. Jeff let out a yell and tried to escape out of it but it was no use. Shannon had it on good and tight. "Okay okay!" Jeff yelled, tapping out frantically. "I give! I give!"

"You sure?" Shannon asked. "Because I could do this for awhile longer if you like."

"I'm sure! Just let me go!"

Shannon released the hold before jumping off the bed and pulling Jeff up to his feet. "Come on, Kimo's downstairs making pancakes. Some pancakes will make you feel better."

Jeff doubted that but he let Shannon drag him downstairs anyway. When the Prince of Punk wanted you to do something, you did it whether you wanted to or not. There was no winning an argument against him.

"Roller coaster of love. Roller coaster woo woo woo," Kimo sang as they entered the kitchen. He was so absorbed in his pancake making that he didn't notice them coming in. "Your love is like a roller coaster baby babe, I wanna ride. Your love is like--"

"My big fat fucking dick baby," Shannon interrupted, humping the air like an idiot. "Get on and ride!"

Jeff shook his head as he sat down at the table. _Leave it to Shannon to take a perfectly innocent song and turn it completely dirty. Now I'll never be able to listen to that song the same way again._

Kimo rolled his eyes as he stacked all the pancakes on to a plate. "Don't kid yourself Shannon. We all know that you do not have a big fat dick. You have a tiny shrimp dick. Now set the table."

Shannon shook his head. "Bitch I ain't your ho! You set the table!"

"You're the ho if I say you're the ho!" Kimo replied. "Now set the damn table!"

"Make me!"

Jeff rolled his eyes and started to get back up. "I'll just--"

"Sit down!" Kimo and Shannon yelled at the same time.

"Fine!" Jeff said in exasperation. He sat back down. "See if I try to help you guys ever again!"

Shannon and Kimo ignored him and got into a brief scuffle. Kimo easily overpowered Shannon, so poor Shannon was the one that set the table. "Fucking bitch," he muttered as he did the chore. "I'm gonna get you Clutter."

Kimo rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah yeah, whatever Moore." As soon as Jeff had his plate, he immediately put three of the pancakes on it. Jeff shook his head. Normally he would be estatic about the meal in front of him because he loved pancakes, but today they just made him think about Jay. The only things Jay liked to eat for breakfast were pancakes and Captain Crunch cereal. If he was offered anything else, he absolutely refused to eat it.

"Come on Jeff, just eat," Shannon said as he doused his pancakes with syrup. "You're skin and bones dude. If you don't eat soon you're gonna blow the fuck away and we'll never see you again."

Jeff sighed and began eating reluctantly. Shannon and Kimo began talking about ideas for future episodes of The Hardy Show. There were several times that they attempted to get him to join in on the conversation. He didn't really offer anything though. It felt like all of his creativity had been taken away from him. About halfway through the meal, someone showed up at the door so Shannon went to go answer it. And then barely a minute later the phone rang, so Kimo had to go get that. Jeff quickly seized his chance and dumped the rest of ripped up what was left of his pancakes and put the plate on the floor so Lucas and Lizzie could eat it. Then he was out the back door before anyone could stop him.

The sky was completely gray and there was a chilly breeze going through the area. Jeff shivered as he shoved his hands into his pocket. He wished that he had his coat with him. It was too cold to be out without it. _Well it's too late now,_ he told himself as he walked into the woods. If he went back inside now, Shannon and Kimo would more than likely want to come walking with him, which would defeat the purpose of him going off on his own in the first place. _I should have at least thought to grab my hoodie before I came downstairs to eat. At least that would be better than this t-shirt._

Clenching his teeth so they wouldn't chatter, he walked until he reached Itchweeed's shack. He suddenly remembered that he had left a long sleeve shirt in there while he and Matt had been filming stuff for The Hardy Show so he went in and looked around. The shirt was where he had left it, and while it was kind of cold from being left in there for so long, but it still managed to provide a tiny bit of warmth. "That's better," he muttered as he went back outside. He didn't know where he was walking to yet. All he knew was that if he wasn't going to be left alone in his bedroom, he wanted to be left alone in the woods.

Eventually he ended up at the ring Matt had set up there in the woods. Jeff slipped into it and then sat down in the corner. He closed his eyes, trying to find the peace that the woods used to bring him. The wind started blowing though, and it made him shiver violently. _Fuck. I don't think I can stand this much longer._

"Jeff? What the hell are you doing?"

Jeff's eyes snapped open and his jaw dropped in shock. Jay was standing in front of him now. "What the fuck are you doing here?" Jeff asked. All thoughts of him being cold had vanished from his mind. He couldn't believe that Jay was standing right there in front of him, looking at him with something that was probably supposed to be concern.

"I need to talk to you," Jay answered. He took off his jacket and tried to hand it to Jeff. "Here, put this on. You look like you're freezing."

Jeff refused to take the jacket, even though his body was screaming at him to do it. "Don't you have a show tonight?"

Jay shook his head. "I have the week off. Creative is making me play an injury angle and they let me stay home to really play it up."

"Oh...that doesn't explain what you're doing here though."

"I told you that I needed to talk to you."

Jeff snorted. "What makes you think I want to hear what you have to say?"

"Jeff please--"

"You cheated on me Jay!" Jeff said, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to escape his eyes. Just seeing Jay hurt more than he could stand. All he could think about was seeing Jay with that whore, looking guilty as sin about it. "That said everything that needed to be said."

Jay shook his head again. "Jeff I'm sorry. I know that doesn't mean shit to you right now but I had to come here and say it."

Jeff couldn't respond to that. He was too busy trying to not fall apart. If he lost it now, he didn't know if he was going to be able to pull himself back together or not.

"I know there's nothing I can say that can excuse what I did," Jay babbled, really getting going because Jeff was letting him. "It doesn't matter how pissed off and lonely I was...what I did wasn't worth losing you."

Part of Jeff wanted to forgive Jay. He really did. He missed being with Jay like crazy. When things had been good between them, they had been really good. But at the same time, he also wanted Jay to feel his pain. He had been hurting so bad this past week that he had truly thought that he was going to go insane. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to forgive Jay for putting him through that. "Was...was that the first time?" he asked, his voice strained from all the effort he was putting into not breaking down.

Jay nodded. "That was the _only_ time."

"I wish....I wish I could believe you." Jeff glanced at Jay and saw the hurt look that flashed through Captain Charisma's eyes. That was the final straw for Jeff. He couldn't take it anymore. He bailed out of the ring as fast as he could and just started running. He thought he heard Jay call out after him but he wasn't one hundred percent sure about that. Either way, he had no intention of stopping and finding out. He was just going to try to outrun the pain as it consumed him once again.

....

"Hey. Hey. Hey! Asshole! Wake the fuck up!"

Randy grunted as he was smacked on the chest really hard. His eyes flew open and he saw his brother Nathan standing over him. "How the fuck did you get in?" he asked grumpily. Nathan was one of the last people that he would ever give a key to his house to. He had never really cared for Nathan and he knew damn well that Nathan couldn't stand him. It was a sibling rivalry that drove their parents crazy because neither of them was willing to bury the hatchet for very long.

"Some teenager let me in as he was leaving," Nathan replied. He was looking down at Randy in disgust. "You fucked him didn't you?"

"He was legal," Randy muttered as he began looking around to see if there was a pair of pants that he could grab and put on real quick. Unfortuantely there wasn't.

Nathan snorted. "Barely." He shook his head. "You are a fucking pig Randy."

Randy glared at his younger brother. "Don't you have anything better to do than hurl insults at me?"

"Yes," Nathan said without hesitation. "Believe me, I'm only here because Mom wouldn't stop bitching at me until I came to check on you. She's worried about you, though only God knows why."

"What the fuck is THAT supposed to mean?"

"It means that she's wasting her time. She's got her own problems to worry about and she doesn't need to worry about you running around raping teenagers and screwing up your life."

"I didn't--"

"Oh is rape too strong of a word for you? Well fine. You're too busy _preying_ on twinks to give a shit what's going on with your own mother."

Randy rubbed his eyes. He had absolutely no idea where Nathan was going with this. "Is Mom sick or something?" he asked. "Is that why you're over here bitching at me?"

"No," Nathan replied. "She and Dad are getting a divorce. He decided that he didn't want to be with her anymore and now he's running around with some slut half his age. She's tried to call you but you never return any of the messages she leaves you." He started heading towards the door. "I don't know what the fuck is going on in your life that's making you this crazy reclusive prick and I don't realy care. But I swear to God, if you do not show at least some kind of support for Mom, I'm coming back here just to kick your ass."

Randy watched Nathan storm out and he waited until he heard the front door slam shut before running his hand over his shaved head. He really hated family drama. He really did. "Fuck," he muttered as he rolled out of bed. He walked across his room and grabbed some clean clothes before heading to the bathroom. The family drama would have to wait until he showered. He couldn't deal with all the family bullshit unless he felt halfway human. _If it's not one thing, it's another,_ he thought unhappily. _Fucking Dad...if he wasn't so old I'd kick his ass for this. I really would._


	4. Chapter 4

"He seriously showed up here?" Shannon asked angrily. "That bastard! Kimo and I are going to kick his fucking ass!"

Jeff sighed unhappily. Shannon had caught him coming back into the house and had immediately figured out that something was extremely wrong. He had tried keeping the truth hidden, but Shannon refused to be denied. "Shannon please, just don't," he pleaded.

"Why not?" Shannon asked. "You were doing…well not great, but a tiny bit better. And he fucked all of that up by showing up."

"Shanny I'm begging you, don't go out and confront him." Jeff was two seconds away from getting down on his knees just to show Shannon how serious he was about this. "I can't take that right now."

Shannon stared at him for a second before nodding. "Alright. If it's really going to bother you, I won't go out there and hunt him down. But if I catch him coming up to the house, I'm going to kick his ass. I mean it." He sat down next to Jeff and put his arms around his best friend. Jeff immediately rested his head on Shannon's chest and closed his eyes. His head hurt from trying to make sense of his feelings. As much as he wanted to forgive Jay, he didn't know if he would ever be able to trust Jay again. And without trust, there was really no hope for their relationship if they tried to get back together. Yet at the same time, whenever he thought about life without Jay, it made his heart ache even more than it already did. He didn't know if he could go through too many more days living like this.

"You know what we should do Jeff?" Shannon said suddenly. "We should go on a little road trip."

Jeff opened his eyes and moved back a little bit so he could look at Shannon. "Are you serious?"

Shannon nodded. "Of course I am."

"Why would we go on a road trip?"

"I think the better question is why _wouldn't_ we go on a road trip."

Jeff gave Shannon exasperated look. "I'm serious Shanny."

Shannon sighed impatiently. "Look man, all you're doing here is drowning in your misery. You're not painting, you're not sculpting, you haven't touched your dirt bikes--fuck, you haven't even really watched TV since you got back. You're not doing anything to distract yourself, which is just not healthy."

Jeff knew that Shannon had a point, but he wasn't exactly sure how a road trip was going to make him feel better. Shannon seemed to sense that and kept right on talking.

"Remember when Shane's girlfriend dumped him and Matt took him on a road trip? They came back with so many stories that it was no wonder Shane forgot all about his pain. And we're much cooler than those two douche bags so we would have like fifty times more fun than they did."

Jeff ran his tongue over his lip ring. He knew that the road trip Shane and Matt had gone on had helped Shane out a whole bunch, but he really didn't think he was up to it. "I don't know Shanny," he said slowly. "It doesn't really sound like a great idea."

Shannon rolled his eyes. "Of _course_ it doesn't sound like a good idea to you right now. You're _depressed._ But once we go on this trip, we can do things to make you undepressed."

"Undepressed isn't a word," Jeff pointed out.

"It will be if I say it is," Shannon informed him. He started to shake Jeff in a playful matter. "Come on, let's do this. Kimo will take care of Lizzie so you won't have to worry about her. And maybe this trip is what you need to clear your head. Maybe getting away from everything will give you a new perspective on what to do next."

Jeff considered that carefully. _Maybe Shannon's right. Maybe getting away is what I need to do. It can't hurt anyway. _"Alright," he agreed. "I'll go."

Shannon grinned. "Really?"

"Yeah. But you're doing most of the driving."

"That's fine by me. That means I get to control where we go." Shannon cackled evilly before getting up and running out of the room.

Jeff sat there and just blinked for a couple of minutes. _Okay…Shannon is crazy and him driving us around is DEFINITELY a decision I'm going to regret in the very near future._

…

Randy had been in some uncomfortable situations before, but this one was really starting to take the cake. He was at his mom's house, and he was doing his best to help comfort her, but she was pretty inconsolable. Add in the fact that his younger sister Becky was giving him distrustful glares and Nathan was obviously planning something violent, and the situation became even more unbearable.

"I just don't understand," Elaine Orton said as she wiped her eyes with a fresh tissue that Becky had handed her. "I mean, I know he cheated when he was out on the road, but that was different. That's just how the wrestling business is. Men get lonely and they sometimes do things they wouldn't normally do. But he was _retired_. He was home with me and things were good…at least I thought they were." She rested her head up against Randy and sighed unhappily.

"Dad's an idiot Mom," Becky said as she rubbed Elaine's back. "He won't be happy with that slut. She'll probably give him a disease and he'll regret ever leaving you for her." She glared at Randy again. "Right Randy?"

"Right," he agreed, only doing so because of his mother. If the situation would have been different, he would have told Becky off for trying to bully him with a look.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Nathan growled. He started storming out the front door. "That mother fucking asshole!"

"What is it?" Elaine asked as Nathan stormed out the front door. "What's wrong?"

Randy shook his head. He had no idea and he wasn't looking forward to finding out. "Keep her in here," he told Becky as he quickly ran outside to see what the fuck was going on. When he got out there, the scene that awaited him was not shocking, considering the circumstances. Nathan had a hold of Cowboy Bob Jr. and was getting right in his face.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Nathan snarled, literally looking like he was two seconds away from punching his own father right in the face. Randy was kind of surprised that he hadn't done it already. Nathan was not only extremely protective of their mother, but he had a nasty temper to boot. It was the one trait all three Orton siblings shared.

"Son I can explain," Bob said quickly, trying to squirm out of Nathan's grip. He knew that he was in deep shit. "Just give me a--"

"Explain?" Nathan said incredulously. "You want to explain? You cheated on Mom with some slut and you want to _explain_? I think those actions speak for themselves you asshole!"

"Let him go Nate," Randy ordered. He began trying to pry his younger brother off of Bob. "This isn't going to--"

"Don't fucking touch me!" Nathan snarled. He let go of Bob so he could shove Randy away.

Randy growled and immediately shoved Nathan back. "Don't fucking shit with me, or I swear to God I'll make you regret it," he threatened.

Bob put himself between his sons in an effort to put a stop to the fighting before someone got punched. "Boys that's enough!" he told them. "Please, I want to get this all settled as fast as possible. I don't want to draw this divorce out any longer than it needs to be and I--"

"You what?" Nathan interrupted, his tone getting really nasty. "Are you sorry? Are you trying to save Mom from some pain? Because it's way too late for those things. Mom's hurting and I'll be damned if you're going to go in there and make things worse."

Bob stared at Nathan for a second before looking at Randy. Out of all of his kids, Bob had always been closest to Randy, so he was probably looking for some kind of support. Randy really didn't feel like giving it though. It was because of his dad that he was not being left alone like he wanted to be, and let that displeasure show as he not so nicely pushed Cowboy Bob back into his truck. "Get out of here," he ordered. "I'm serious. If Nathan starts hitting you, I'm not going to stop him."

Bob stared at Randy in disbelief until he realized his oldest son was serious. Then, without saying another word, he started his vehicle up and drove the hell out of there.

"Fucking prick," Nathan muttered. He didn't thank Randy for his help; he just stormed past his brother and went back inside.

Randy sighed. He knew he needed to go back into the house but he didn't want to. He just wanted to get in his car and drive the fuck away He had no idea where he wanted to go; all he knew was that he felt a strong urge to get away from this fucking bullshit family drama. _I should go on a road trip. Anywhere I end up along the way has got to be better than here._


	5. Chapter 5

"Can't read my can't read my no you can't read my poker face. Cuz I am Shannon fucking Moore. Can't read my can't read my no you can't read my poker face. Cuz I am a gigantic whore."

Jeff sighed and shook his head. Shannon's off tune singing had woken him up from a semi-peaceful sleep. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. It was pitch black outside now and he had absolutely no idea where they were. "Shan?"

"F-f-f-fuck her face f-f-f-fuck her face," Shannon sang, continuing his mission to change the lyrics to the song.

"Shannon."

"F-f-f-fuck her face f-f-f-fuck her face."

"Shannon!"

"What?" Shannon finally said. "Why do you keep interrupting me? That's rude. You're a very rude man."

Jeff shook his head. "Sorry Shan. I just want to know where we are."

Shannon sighed. "Last I checked, we were just entering Kansas."

"The last you checked?"

"Hey man, I'm following the road, not the signs around us. Our whereabouts and destination aren't important. It's the journey that matters."

Jeff gave Shannon an exasperated look. "Cut the crap dude. The destination thing I can buy but our whereabouts are pretty fucking important."

"Aw man, quit being a sour puss. We're bound to come across a town sometime soon and then we'll find out exactly where we are."

"Wait, why can't you just use your GPS to tell us where we are?"

"Yuk broke it."

"How did he break it?"

"I don't fucking know. He borrowed my fucking car and when I got it back, the GPS system was shot to shit. And the mother fucker _still_ hasn't gotten around to fixing it."

Jeff sighed and shook his head. "Fucking idiot."

Shannon cocked his eyebrow. "Hey man, just chill. There's no need to freak out."

"I'm not freaking out," Jeff muttered. "I just…I don't know." He sighed and rested his head against the window. "I'm tired of driving man. Can't we just go get something to eat and then stay at a hotel?"

"Yeah okay," Shannon agreed. He sounded relieved that Jeff had finally agreed to eat something on his own. What Shannon didn't know though was that Jeff didn't actually want to eat. He just needed to get the fuck out of the car for a little bit. Despite Shannon's best efforts to make things as fun as possible, he was starting to regret agreeing to do this. Sure it was nice to be distracted when he was awake, but whenever he went to sleep, he started dreaming about Jay. And that frustrated him because how was he supposed to get over the guy when he couldn't get him out of his head?

Shannon drove until they managed to find a diner that was still open. "This place is creepy," Jeff muttered as they went in and sat down.

"No it's not," Shannon replied. "Only the truckers eyeing us like pieces of meat are creepy. The rest of the place is just fine."

Jeff glared at the truckers in question and got laughed at for his efforts. "Fuckers," he muttered. "They better fucking leave us alone."

The waitress walked over to them and handed them menus. "Can I get you boys anything to drink?"

"Pepsi," Shannon said immediately.

Jeff raised his eyebrows. _Since when does he drink like Phil?_ "I'll just have a Mountain Dew," he told the waitress.

She wrote that down on her little notepad and then took off to get those drinks. Shannon began studying the menu intently but Jeff barely skimmed over it. "Did Matt call while I was sleeping?" he asked.

"Yeah," Shannon replied. "I offered to wake you up so he could talk to you but he said to let you sleep. You are supposed to call him back though later."

"Okay."

The waitress came back and set their drinks down in front of them. "Now what can I get you boys to eat?" she asked.

"I'll take a BLT sandwich with extra B, some tator tots and coleslaw," Shannon replied. "Oh and I want a slice of cheesecake too."

The waitress smiled. "I like a boy who has a good appetite." She gave him a little wink before turning to Jeff. "How about you?"

"Can I just have some French fries and a milkshake?" he asked, ignoring the look Shannon was giving him.

"Sure thing hon." She took the menus from them and walked away.

"Damn it Jeff, I promised Matt that you would eat real food on this trip," Shannon complained.

"French fries and milkshakes are real food," Jeff insisted. He grabbed a napkin and began trying to fold it into a cool shape. "Besides, you can always just lie to him."

"But he always finds that kind of stuff like that. He has some kind of secret mind mojo working for him," Shannon pointed out.

Jeff sighed. He knew this was true and it annoyed him. "Well then…I'll eat better tomorrow." Satisfied with his own promise, he began putting all of his concentration into playing with his napkin until the food came. While Shannon dug in and demolished everything put in front of him, Jeff ate just enough to satisfy Shannon before getting up. "Ask if there's a hotel somewhere close to here. I'll be right back."

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Bathroom." Jeff turned around and started to walk to the restroom when that door opened and someone walked out. He had no intention of giving the person anything more than a passing glance but that changed when he saw who it was. _No_ he thought as his mouth dropped open and his feet froze right where they were. _Oh God no._

Randy looked over and they made eye contact.. At first, Orton looked just as surprised to see Jeff as Jeff was to see him. But he quickly regained his composure and actually started coming towards Jeff.

"Be gone Satan!" Shannon yelled, actually picking up a chair and chucking it at the Legend Killer. Randy got hit right in the chest with the chair, and Shannon quickly tossed a fifty dollar bill as the lady running the cash register before dragging Jeff towards the door. "Keep the change!" he yelled at the stunned people.

Jeff looked back at Randy as he and Shannon sprinted to the car. "What the hell is he doing here?" he asked hysterically.

"I don't know," Shannon replied. He got his keys out and began trying to unlock the doors. "That fucker is…he fucking….why the fuck won't this thing open!"

Jeff began bouncing up and down anxiously. Everything Randy had done to him was replaying itself in his head and it made him even more terrified to think about what could possibly happen if Randy got his hands on him again. "Come on come on come on!" he said anxiously. "Hurry up!"

Shannon almost dropped the keys but he regain his hold on them quickly. "Got it!" he said. "Get in!"

Jeff got in and locked the door immediately after closing it. "Go go go go!" he ordered as he saw Randy come out of the diner.

"I'm going I'm going!" Shannon got the car started and burned some serious rubber pulling out of the parking lot. Jeff buckled up his seat belt and sank down in his seat. His heart was still pounding at a million miles an hour and his whole body was shaking. That had been way too fucking close to comfort. _Now please let him just stay away. Please please please…_

…

"Fucking Shannon," Randy growled as he got into his car. All thoughts of being hungry had been completely driven out of his mind, along with his thoughts of continuing his road trip to Mexico. All he could think about was Jeff; it felt like the year he had spent in isolation in an attempt to break his obsession for Jeff had all been in vain. "Gonna get that fucking idiot…nobody throws a chair at me and gets away from it." He started the car and took off after Jeff and Shannon. He hadn't exactly thought this through and he had no plan to any time soon. Seeing Jeff again had made him want him more than ever, and he was tired of denying himself what he wanted.

One way or another, he was going to get himself a little bit of alone time with dear old Jeff.


	6. Chapter 6

Ever after Shannon and Jeff were somewhat sure that they had lost Randy, Jeff's heart was still pounding inside of his chest. "That was too fucking close," he muttered, casting a nervous glance out the back window. That little encounter with Randy had really shook him up.

"Oh yeah," Shannon agreed. He rubbed the back of his neck and took a deep breath. "What do you think we should do?" he asked. "Do you think we should keep driving for the rest of the night to make sure we lost him or do you want to go to a hotel and sleep?"

Jeff bit his lower lip. Part of him thought they should keep driving but another part of him was about to go insane if he stayed in the car any longer. _And it's not like he's right behind us or anything…I mean, we lost him. We would see his headlights if he found us again._ "Maybe drive for a bit longer," he finally said. "Just to make sure."

Shannon nodded and did just that. He drove for the next forty five minutes and got them a couple more towns away before he finally pulled into a hotel. "This place okay with you?" he asked as they got out of the car.

"Yeah," Jeff said. At this point in his life, hotels were all looking the same to him. A hotel would either have to be super fucking special or really really icky and rundown to make him even take much notice in it.

They grabbed their stuff from the trunk and went into the hotel and got themselves a room. Once they were in their room, Jeff sat down on the bed and grabbed the TV remote. "Do you just want to watch TV or do you want to order a movie?" he asked.

"I want to watch a porno," Shannon declared as he got up on the other bed and started jumping on it. He had to do that every time he got into his hotel room. It always annoyed Matt to know end but Jeff didn't really give a shit. If he would have felt like it, he would be jumping on his own bed.

Jeff shook his head. "I'm not watching a porno with you Shanny."

"Why not?"

"Because that would just be weird." Jeff turned on the television and started flipping through the channels. "The only thing weirder than watching a porno with you is watching a porno with Dad and Matt."

Shannon shook his head. "You are way too uptight Jeffro. Watching a porno with your dad isn't so bad."

Jeff frowned. "You say that like you know it from experience."

"Yeah well, the Legend and I were bored so--"

"Oh my God!" Jeff yelled, completely horrified by this admission from Shannon. "How could you do that? That's just…that's just wrong!"

Shannon shrugged. "Hey man, it wasn't like I meant for it to happen. He found a porno called "You Fuck My Wife, You Fuck Me" and I just happened to walk in and have it catch my interest."

"I did not hear that," Jeff said, shaking his head to deny ever hearing this horrifying confession. "Do you hear me? I did not hear any of that."

Shannon jumped over to Jeff's bed and plopped down on his back so he could snuggle up to the Enigma. "Don't be all cranky with me," he pleaded. "I promise, I'll never watch a porno with your daddy again."

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "If you would just have a better sense of timing, you wouldn't have to be making this promise to me."

"Hey man, are you going to forgive me or not? Because I really don't want to have to beg for it."

Jeff sighed. "You're forgiven…on one condition."

"Name it."

"If you ever walk in on my dad watching a porno again, you take it away from him. He's too old to be watching that stuff. It might give him a heart attack."

Shannon grinned. "Okay. I'll make sure to do that." He rested his head on Jeff's chest. "So what are we going to watch?" he asked.

Jeff shrugged. "I don't know. Let's find out." He started paying more attention to finding something to watch on TV and was disappointed to find that the only thing on that was remotely interesting was an episode of Cold Case he had already seen three times. "Well shit, this sucks," he said. He looked at Shannon. "Do you want to see what's on pay per view?"

Shannon shrugged. "If we're not going with my porno idea then I don't really care."

"What is it with you and this porno thing?"

"I don't know. I just feel like watching one."

"You're really weird," Jeff informed the Prince of Punk. "I hope you know that."

Shannon grinned. "Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Well I choose to take it that way." Shannon grinned for a moment longer before suddenly getting a serious look on his face. "We need to tell Matt about what happened with Randy earlier."

Jeff winced. He didn't even want to begin to think about his brother's reaction to that. "I know," he said reluctantly. He looked at his watch. "I think we should wait till morning though. Even if we got a hold of him right now, what is he going to do about it? I mean, he's on the other side of the country."

Shannon took that into consideration. "I guess I see your point," he said slowly. "But I still think we should call him."

"Well can you do it then?" Jeff asked. He was too tired to deal with Matt's reaction right now. "I want to get in the shower real quick."

"Okay," Shannon agreed. "But if he insists on talking to you, I will give the phone to you. Okay?"

"Fine." Jeff rolled off the bed and grabbed some clean clothes out of his bag and headed to the bathroom. He supposed that he was going to have to take a quicker shower than he wanted to. There was no way in hell that Matt was _not_ going to want to talk to him about the incident. _Fun fun fun fun_, he thought sarcastically. _This should be so much fun._

…

Unbeknownst to Jeff and Shannon, they did not lose Randy like they had thought they had. He had managed to catch up with them before they got too far from the diner he had found them in. The reason they hadn't seen him was because he had turned off his headlights and stayed far enough back to make them think that he wasn't near them.

"Oh Jeff," he muttered under his breath as he slashed all four tires on Shannon's car. "Do you have any idea what you do to me?" He spit on the vehicle for good measure and then grabbed some flowers that had been planted near the hotel before actually going inside. He knew that he was not only being rash and impulsive, but he was also being completely stupid. It was not a good idea to start this up all over again. If word got back to Mark about this, he was as good as dead. But at the moment, he couldn't even bring himself to really care about that. Seeing Jeff had triggered him in the worst way and now he was bound and determined to once again get his hands on the youngest Hardy brother.

"Excuse me," he said as he approached the lady at the front desk. "Do you mind helping me with something?"

The girl looked up and immediately checked him out before answering. "What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Listen, my boyfriend and I got into a huge fight the other night," Randy said, turning on all the charm he could muster. Judging from her young age and the way she was already kind of swooning over him, he knew it wasn't going to take much more than that to convince her to give him what he wanted. "And I really want to make things right with him so I really need your help right now." He leaned forward and gave her a pleading look. "Could you please give me the key to his room? I just, I want to surprise him with these flowers and make peace with him. I can't stand him being at me."

The girl looked just a little bit apprehensive. "I don't know if I'm allowed--"

"We'll keep it our little secret," he quickly assured her. "Please, I'm begging you to help me out here."

There was a little bit more hesitation on her part, but she finally gave in. "The name?"

"Jeff Hardy," he said. "Although his friend Shannon Moore could have been the one that checked in for them."

The girl checked the computer and found the information he needed. "The room number is 114," she said as she handed him the key. "Good luck with the making up."

"Thank you," he said as sincerely as he could. He took the key and walked to the room as quickly as he could. He avoided eye contact with the two people he passed on the way and only really looked around when he needed to see if the coast was clear or not. When it was, he quickly unlocked the door and stepped inside the room.

"Matt I told already that we lost h--" Shannon (who was on the phone) stopped in mid-sentence when he caught sight of Randy. Knowing that he only had one true shot at this, Randy ditched the flowers and quickly tackled Shannon down to the ground, driving the back of the Prince of Punk's head into the desk, almost knocking him completely unconscious.

"That was for throwing a chair at me," Randy growled. "And this--" He hit Shannon on the back of the head again to knock him out completely "--is to make sure you don't spoil anything." He grabbed Shannon's cell phone and hung up on Matt before looking around to see if there was anything he could tie up the unconscious man. He didn't see anything obvious, but just as he was considering ripping up the bed sheets and using them, the bathroom door opened and Jeff came out. "Shannon are you--" His jaw dropped and his eyes widened as he saw that Randy was there.

Randy stood back up and folded his arms over his chest. "We need to talk."


	7. Chapter 7

Jeff shook his head in disbelief. "No," he said, backing up very slowly, way too scared to make any movement that could be considered sudden. "No no no no. You're not here. Go away."

Now it was Randy's turn to shake his head. "But I am here Jeff," he said, slowly advancing on the youngest Hardy. "And I'm not going anywhere." He tilted his head to the side, observing Jeff very carefully. "Now come on, don't look at me like that. I just want to talk. You don't have to look at me like that."

"Talk?" Jeff said, his voice raising an octave higher than it normally was. "You want to talk? Are you fucking kidding me? After everything you've fucking done to me, the last thing I want to is talk to you. Now get out!"

"No," Randy refused. He folded his arms over his chest. "I'm tired of getting out. I thought I was getting over you. At least I liked to think I was. Maybe I wasn't. But I'm not really going to know now that you showed up again."

Jeff shook his head while trying to think of some way to get himself out of this situation. Randy was blocking the door so he wouldn't be able to get out that way. The window and his cell phone seemed too far away and even though he knew he could probably get to the hotel room phone, he didn't know whether he was going to be able to fight off Randy while he tried to actually call for help. _There's only one reasonable thing left to do._ "HELP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "SOMEBODY--"

As soon as he had started screaming, Randy started springing into action. He lunged at Jeff, managing to get one of his hands over his mouth. Jeff tried to bite down, but Randy began pushing him back so fast that he slipped and fell back on to the hard floor. He whimpered in pain as the back of his head hit the ground hard, nearly knocking him unconscious in the process.

"Damn it, did you have to go and do that?" Randy asked with a sigh. "I really did just want to talk."

Jeff didn't believe him. He had absolutely no reason to. Randy had proved time and time that not only could he not be trusted, but he also had every intention of causing him harm. Panicking now, he managed to get his knee up and hit Randy in the groin, which gave him just enough of an opportunity to shove the younger man off of him and make a break for the door. He knew he needed to check on Shannon, but he had to get help first. They were both fucked if he didn't get help.

Just as he was grabbing on to the door knob, he felt a hand grab the back of his neck and slam his forehead into the door really hard. The blow dazed him, and he could only squeak as he was thrown on to the bed. "No," he whimpered when Randy climbed on top of him. He started trying to fight again but this time Randy pinned him down easily. "Randy please, let me go," he begged. His heart rate had sped up so much that it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest at any moment. Part of him had never really recovered from what Randy had put him through the first time, so being in this position again was really affecting him. "Don't do this please." He tried desperately to somehow get out of his grip but froze when he felt a familiar hardness pressing up against his stomach.

"This is all your fault," Randy said, leaning forward and brushing his lips across Jeff's neck. "You stay in my head even when I try to push you out." He placed a firm kiss on Jeff's jugular before nipping at it with his teeth. "I can't take it anymore. I need you. I need you so fucking bad."

Jeff started to scream again but he was cut off by Randy kissing him hungrily and possessively. He choked as Randy's tongue was shoved into the back of his throat. _Fuck no. Not again. Never again._ He started hitting Randy as hard as he could, but Randy just shrugged off the blows for a little while before finally getting frustrated enough to slap Jeff across the face. "Stop it," he growled. "I'm not going to hurt you unless you keep asking for it."

Jeff glared at him a bit before spitting in his face. Randy paused, surprised by that action. But then he rolled his eyes before spitting right back. "Two can play that game Hardy," he pointed out.

"Just get off of me," Jeff begged, shaking his head in an attempt to get the spittle off his face. He tried to get a look at Shannon out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't see him all that well. He couldn't hear him moving though, so that indicated he was still out cold.

"No," Randy refused. He unbuttoned Jeff's pants before sticking his hand down there. "You want me off so bad, make me get off."

Jeff tried to take him up on that. He really did. But when he felt Randy's hand wrap around his cock and began to pump him, his entire body went still. He gave Randy a confused look, which only made the Viper smirk. "What…what are you doing?" he asked in a shaky voice.

Randy smirked. "You're a smart boy. Figure it out."

Jeff whimpered and tried to get Randy's hand away. But Randy tightened his grip and began stroking faster, bring Jeff's cock to life. Jeff whined in dismay, closing his eyes and turning his head away. He didn't want this to feel good. This was wrong. Randy was molesting him. He needed to be screaming for help because God only knew what the Legend Killer was going to do to him next. But every time he tried to fight, Randy just stroked him harder, getting him so aroused that he was soon writhing around and bucking into Randy's hand, even though he didn't want to be. "Stop," he begged. "Please stop."

"Why?" Randy asked. "You don't want me to." He moved himself down and replaced his hand with his mouth. That was all it took for Jeff to lose it. He let out a ragged gasp as he came inside Randy's mouth, covering his face with his hands because he was so ashamed.

"Jeff?" Randy said when he was done with the whole swallowing thing. "Look at me."

Jeff shook his head. "Leave me alone," he said miserably. "Please, just get out."

For a moment, he thought maybe--just maybe--that Randy was going to do that. But then he felt something sharp press up against his throat, which caused him to uncover his eyes and gasp in fear. Randy had a pocket knife held up against his throat and he looked like he meant business.

"You're coming with me," Randy said firmly.

"No I--" Jeff whimpered as the blade was pressed harder against his throat He could feel a trickle of blood going down his neck and it truly scared him.

"This isn't a discussion," Randy growled. "You are coming with me. Do you understand?"

Jeff finally nodded reluctantly. What other choice did he have?

…

"Damn it Shannon, what the fuck are you doing?" Matt growled as he hung up his cell phone. Ever since his conversation with the Prince of Punk had been abruptly cut off, he had called back over and over again, hoping to get some sort of answer. "Fuck!" he said as he hit the steering wheel. Shannon had told him about seeing Randy in a diner and as soon as he heard that, he had started heading to the nearest airport. He didn't care that he had a show tomorrow night that he was scheduled to be a part of. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach about the whole Randy thing and he needed to make sure Jeff was alright.

_Oh God, what if Randy was the reason the phone call got caught off? What if he's already there and he's hurting Jeff again?_

Matt bit down on his lower lip and started driving faster. He didn't like that thought. It was absolutely terrifying. _Please God, watch over Jeff until I get to him. Don't let Randy get a hold of him again or I'm really going to have to kill him this time._


	8. Chapter 8

Randy sighed as he continued to drive, casting a nervous glance out the rearview mirror every few seconds. He had Jeff bound and gagged in the trunk of his car, not wanting to take a risk and have his obsession try to jump out of the car or try to take control of the wheel. There was a small part of his mind that was questioning himself about what the hell he was doing, but the rest of his mind shut that part up and urged him to keep driving. He had Jeff right where he wanted him now. Why was he trying to ruin it by over thinking it?

His phone rang, causing him to jump a little bit. Grumbling under his breath, he reached over to the passenger's seat and grabbed his phone, slowing down only slightly so he could check and see who was calling. "Fucking hell," he muttered when he saw that it was his dad calling. He reluctantly flipped the thing opened and put it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Randy where are you?" Cowboy Bob asked gruffly. He sounded like he was beyond smashed.

"I'm out," Randy replied.

"Out? Out where? Damn it boy, I need ya!"

Randy groaned. He was not in the mood to deal with this. "Why?" he asked unhappily.

"I shouldn't have left your mother boy," Bob said badly. "I miss her so much…"

"Oh Jesus, don't fucking start crying to me about that," Randy snapped. "Look, YOU were the one that fucked up big time and now YOU have to deal with the consequences." He hung up the phone and held it in his hand for a second before sighing and chucking it out the window. It had just occurred to him that almost all phones came with a built in GPS system and he didn't want that being used against him in any way. _Good thing I made sure that Jeff didn't have his phone on him when he left. I wouldn't want them tracking me through that either._

_Yeah, it's a real good thing,_ a voice in the back of his head said darkly. _You only just assaulted someone and kidnapped your obsession. That's only going to get your ass thrown in jail. This isn't the WWE dumbass. In the real world, people get in big fucking trouble for this shit._

Randy gulped nervously. He hadn't given any thought to the potential consequences of his actions. As the realization of just how fucked he probably was, he tried to push all thoughts of that out of his head so he could focus on what he needed to do next. He needed to get him and Jeff somewhere that was isolated and wouldn't be an obvious place for anywhere to left. "Come on come on THINK!" he growled at himself. He needed to come up with something fast because he couldn't just keep driving around with nowhere to go. He needed a destination and he needed one now.

After about a half hour of desperate thinking, he finally came up with something. His uncle Barry's first wife had a cousin who owned a cabin out in the Colorado that was very isolated and very rarely used by anyone. That would be a good place for him to hide out, even if it was just for a little while.

With that decided, he drove for the next three hours, only stopping because his bladder refused to be ignored any longer than that. Turning off the main road, he cut through an empty field and then got out of the car so he could do his business. When he was done with that, he figured that it was probably a good idea to get Jeff out of the trunk and let him relieve himself too. But all that figuring went straight to hell as soon as he popped the trunk over. Jeff had been waiting for his chance and he wasn't going to let it go to waste. He kicked Randy between the legs before getting out of the trunk and running like hell. Unfortunately for him though, he stepped in an unseen mole hole and twisted his ankle violently as he fell.

Randy groaned and held his crotch as he watched Jeff struggle to get back up to his feet. "That's why you shouldn't have run," he growled angrily. He walked over to Jeff and kicked him in the ribs, getting a muffled cry of pain out of the injured man. He knelt down beside Jeff and put his knee over Hardy's legs so he could examine the injure ankle. Jeff let out frantic whimpers that were muffled by the gag that was in his mouth.

"Shit," Randy muttered. Jeff's ankle was already swelling up really badly. "Crap, I don't have any ice with me." His eyes narrowed as he looked back at Jeff. "What the fuck am I supposed to do with you now?"

Jeff only gave him a pained whimper in response.

"Fuck!" Randy was at a lost as to what to do. If he put Jeff back in the trunk, it would probably hurt his ankle more. But if he put Jeff in the backseat there was way too much risk of him being seen, and that was a chance that Randy wasn't going to dare take. "Sorry baby," he said as he picked Jeff up and carefully placed him back in the trunk. "But this is something I have to do."

…

Shannon woke up with the worst headache he had ever had in his life. He groaned in pain, trying desperately to remember what had happened to him. At first he couldn't recall any of it, but when he looked over and saw Matt sitting by his side, it all came rushing back to him. "Oh God," he groaned as he tried to get up.

Matt quickly forced him back down. "You can't go anywhere Shan," he said firmly.

"But--"

"You've got a concussion dude. The nurses are going to go apes hit if they see you trying to get up in your condition."

"Concussion?" Shannon looked around at his surroundings and finally realized that he was in a hospital bed. _Fuck, Randy really fucked me up._ "Shit." He took a deep breath and looked back at Matt. "Is Jeff--"

"He's gone. Randy's got him." Matt looked absolutely enraged at the thought of that. "I called the hotel you were staying at and asked someone to at least check on you guys before I got there. That's when they found you unconscious and Jeff gone. The receptionist admitted to letting Jeff in because Randy convinced her he was Jeff's boyfriend."

"Oh fuck," Shannon said with a sigh. This was so beyond bad that it wasn't even funny.

"Yeah," Matt agreed. "The cops are looking for him and the FBI will probably be involved before morning since we're all sure Randy already took Jeff out of the state." He sighed and shook his head. "Fuck, I feel so fucking helpless."

"Matt--"

"Orton won't go home…he's a psycho but he isn't stupid. He won't go where we're going to look for him." Matt sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I called Mark. He and Glenn are gonna start their own hunt. And once Kimo gets here he's going to take care of you while I join them."

Shannon didn't bother to object to that plan. The way he figured it, the more people that were out looking for Jeff, the better chance they had of finding him before Orton really hurt him.. "Someone will find them," he said firmly, reaching out and grabbing Matt's hand. "One of us will get Jeff away from Orton."

Matt nodded in agreement and they fell into a very tense silence. They wanted--no, _needed_ to believe they would rescue Jeff sooner rather than later. Neither one of them wanted to think about what could happen to Jeff if they didn't.


	9. Chapter 9

Jeff didn't know exactly how long he was stuck inside the trunk of the car. He ended up passing out awhile after being stuffed back in there trunk, and when he woke up again, he was laying in a bed with new clothes on, his ankle wrapped up in a brace and propped up on a pillow, and Randy sitting next to him, staring at him with an unreadable look on his face.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up," Randy told him. "You were really starting to worry me."

Jeff groaned and blinked several times, trying to regain his bearings. "Where are we?" he finally asked.

"I can't tell you," Randy replied immediately.

Jeff glared at him. "You better fucking tell me."

Randy just smirked. "Have you ever seen the movie Black Snake Moan?"

The sudden change of topic kind of threw Jeff off guard. "What?" he said in confusion, starting to get up but freezing when he felt something around his waist. Muttering under his breath, he lifted up his shirt and saw that there was a giant chain attached to his waist. His eyes followed the length of the chain, and he saw that it went right out the door, which meant it was attached to something in a different room. "What the fuck?" he shouted in disbelief. He started trying to get up but Randy quickly stopped him.

"You need to rest," Orton insisted. "Your ankle's pretty fucked up. I iced it a whole bunch when you were out but it's still--"

"Get away from me!" Jeff shouted, pushing his kidnapper away. "You fucking psycho…let me out of this chain right now!"

Randy shook his head. "I can't do that. I can't take any chances with you. I let you go once and--"

"And you should have stuck with that decision!" Jeff exclaimed, trying to fight with the chain. His ankle was throbbing terribly but he was doing his best to ignore that pain in favor of trying to get free. "Randy please…do you have any idea what you're doing right now? This is so fucked up on so many levels. You _kidnapped _me. You're going to be in so much trouble when we're found."

"Well I guess we better not get found then," Randy said with a shrug.

Jeff shook his head. "You can't seriously think nobody is going to find me. There's no way--"

"People go missing all the time and never turn back up," Randy pointed out. "We're in the middle of nowhere…nobody can see in here by accident…" His voice trailed off as he eyes scanned Jeff's body, stopping in places that made the Charismatic Enigma turn red in embarrassment. It was painfully obvious that he was undressing the older man with his eyes. "I know you think I'm crazy. Hell, I think I'm crazy too. I mean, I have to be, don't I? Mark told me what he was going to do to me if I ever came near you again." He shook his head, getting up and sitting down on the bed so he could be next to Jeff. Jeff immediately tried to get away, but Randy wrapped his arms around him and stopped him from going anywhere.

"Mark's going to kill you," Jeff said, his voice quivering despite his attempt at bravado. "If you let me go though--"

"What would be the point in doing that now?" Randy asked. "I mean, I'm already dead if he finds me…doesn't matter if I let you go." He placed a gentle kiss on Jeff's neck, making him shudder violently. "I might as well get what I can from this and deal with the consequences when they happen."

Jeff tried to gulp, but the lump in his throat was much too heavy. Either Randy really didn't understand how crazy this was and just saying he did, or he really did understand it and didn't give a shit. "Fucking crazy," he muttered, once again trying to push Randy away and once again failing. "Randy please--"

Randy suddenly kissed him, which made his whole body freeze. He automatically expected Randy to start trying to force his tongue down his throat, but instead he ended the kiss almost as suddenly as he started it and buried his face into Jeff's neck. Jeff fidgeted uncomfortably, glancing around the room and realizing that the windows were boarded up nice and tight. He licked his dry lips and fidgeted some more, which just made Randy hold on to him even more tightly. _Shit shit shit,_ Jeff thought, messing with the chain that was wrapped around him. His ankle was throbbing more than ever and he was wishing he was unconscious again just so he didn't have to feel the pain anymore. _Why do I have to attract the psychos? I mean…seriously, do I have a sign over my head that says "Rape and kidnap me please!" Fuck! So so fucked up…_

…

Jay stared at the television, feeling absolutely sick to his stomach. Randy kidnapping Jeff was now the number one news story in the nation. He had heard about it from Adam, who had been told by Hunter after an emergency meeting with Vince. Despite neither Randy or Jeff being current members of WWE, Vince was taking a very active in roll in trying to locate the both of them. Jay wasn't sure whether it was out of actual concern or whether because the media was hammering Vince for possibly letting this happen. Apparently it was his fault that Randy was a total psycho.

_Shows what they know_, Jay thought as he forced himself to shut the TV off and pick up his phone. Vince couldn't control Randy's mental state. Nobody could. He had been through this shit with Jeff the first time around and he should have known something like this would happen again. He should have done a better job at protecting Jeff instead of letting the difficulties of being alone on the road get to him and making the biggest mistake of his life. Losing Jeff had been one of the worst things that had ever happened to him, and he didn't even want to think about what Randy could be doing to him right now.

He began dialing Mark's number, but then he stopped and put the device away instead. Mark was still furious at him for cheating on Jeff and breaking his heart, so announcing that he wanted to help search for Jeff probably would go over as well as a fart in church. Mark didn't forget and he wasn't that good at forgiving. If he wanted to help find Jeff, he was going to have to start looking for him on his own. _First stop: St. Louis. Randy won't be stupid enough to be there but maybe there's a clue there as to where he'll feel safe to go._


	10. Chapter 10

"You know, with cops swarming the area, now might not be the best time to do this whole breaking and entering thing," Glenn pointed out as he kept watch.

Mark didn't exactly care about the timing of his actions. His focus was on finding Jeff. Vince had told him that the cops were handling the situation, but he trusted the law about as far as he could throw a semi-truck. He had learned a very long time ago that if you wanted something done right, you did it yourself, which was exactly what he was doing.

Glenn sighed and looked at his phone. "Matt hasn't texted yet."

"Give him time," Mark grunted as he continued to pick Orton's lock. Matt had left Shannon to be tended to by his other friends so he could come to St. Louis and see if he could get anything out of Orton's siblings. They all knew the cops had already done the questioning for them, but none of them were sure whether the other Ortons had actually told the cops anything. Mark knew that Becky and Nate didn't particularly care for Randy, but he was still their brother. There was a chance they could try to protect him.

"Got it," Mark finally said, opening the door and leading Glenn into the dark house. "Now if I was a clue to where Randy took Jeff, where would I be?"

Glenn snorted. "Jesus Mark, you acted like Randy planned this out."

Mark raised his eyebrows. "You saying he didn't?"

"I'm saying Orton's impulsive. Look, he couldn't have known where Jeff and Shannon were going to end up during their road trip because according to the punk, they didn't even know. This whole thing was a fucked up coincidence that spiraled out of control-which means Orton could have taken him absolutely anywhere. It doesn't have to be any place he's been before. It just needs to be secluded enough for them not to be found in."

Mark growled and started his search. Contrary to what Glenn obviously thought, he already knew that shit. The odds of finding a good solid clue right here in Randy's home was pretty slim, but where else were they going to look? They had already checked the entire area by the hotel Jeff was taken from and there had been no sign of Orton's car yet. Until a better lead popped up, this wasn't a bad place to look.

Glenn gave up trying to talk to Mark and started to search the first floor while Mark went upstairs. The first door he opened led him to the bathroom, which he searched just in case. When he found nothing in there, he went into the room right next to it. This was Randy's bedroom and it was a complete mess. "Fucking shit Orton," he muttered as he began to look through the clutter. "Didn't figure you to be slob." He began looking through the pile of the clothes on the floor, searching the pockets for stuff. When he found nothing there, he began searching through the desk. The top of the desk only had bills and stuff like that, but the drawers contained stuff that was pretty frightening given the circumstances. There were pictures-like hundreds upon hundreds of pictures-of Jeff. Some of them were actual photographs, some looked like they had been printed off the computer and others were drawings. The drawings were crudely done and some of them were of Jeff tied up and naked in a bed… "Jesus fucking Christ," Mark said under his breath. He shook his head in disbelief. "Glenn! Come up here and look at this!"

It took a couple of minutes, but Glenn did get up there. "What is it?" he asked.

"Look!" Mark showed him the pictures.

"Holy fuck…" Glenn looked at them all carefully. "That is some fucked up shit." He shook his head. "You can take the boy away from his obsession but you can't take the obsession from the boy."

Mark nodded in agreement. "Let's-" His phone rang suddenly, and when he looked at the number flashing on the screen, he was surprised to see that it was Adam calling him. "What is it Copeland?" he asked as soon as he answered it, not bothering with a polite greeting.

"Um…Jay's on the hunt for Jeff now," Adam said hesitantly.

"What?" Mark yelled, startling Glenn. "That mother-we don't need his help! He's done enough damage to last a life time. If it wasn't for him ch-"

"Mark calm down!" Adam said frantically. "Look, I know he fucked up, alright? And I know you and Matt want to kill him for hurting Jeff. But I just wanted to call and give you the heads up so you can calm down and not freak the fuck out if you run into him."

"Yeah well, I guarantee nothing," Mark growled. "That idiot-"

"That idiot is trying to help," Adam interrupted, taking a big risk by cutting Mark off. "Look, if you need to go after him later, do it then. But right now, the focus needs to be on finding Jeff. That's the only thing that matters right now."

Mark growled. He knew Adam was right, but that didn't mean he liked it. "I'm still beating the fuck out of that idiot when I see him," he growled before he hung up.

Glenn blinked, still completely out of the loop. "What's going on?"

Mark just shook his head. "I'll explain as we keep looking, alright?"

"You better. I hate being out of the loop. Makes me feel not special."

"Oh don't worry, you are special-special ed."

Glenn growled and smacked Mark before storming off. Mark frowned and began chasing after the bald man. "What? I thought it was funny!"

…

Randy stepped out of the shower and heard the loud clanging of the chain. He shook his head as he dried out, already knowing that Jeff was trying to escape. That didn't really bother him because the chain he had used on Jeff was too strong for him to break. Jeff could pull on it for days if he wanted to; it wasn't going to give an inch. He threw down his towel and began to reach for his clothes when he changed his mind. The image of Jeff all chained up was getting him riled up and he found himself leaving the bathroom and stalking his captive, who was out in the hallway and digging at the chain desperately. "Oh Jeff," he drawled out, tilting his head to the side and licking his lips.

Jeff's eyes widened when he heard Randy's voice. "Shit!" He started trying to get back into the bedroom so he could lock the door, but in his rush he put too much weight on his injured ankle and it gave out completely, causing him to fall to the floor.

"Now that wasn't very smart," Randy said, walking over to the fallen man and picking him up so he could take him to the bedroom. He placed Jeff on the bed before practically ripping his shirt off of him. "You've probably hurt yourself even more."

Jeff didn't seem to care about that. He was too busy trying to shove Randy away. "Get off of me!" he yelled, twisting his body around as best as he could with the chain on him. "Damn it Randy!"

Randy chuckled, noticing that Jeff's fingertips were all fucked up from trying so hard to get the chain off of himself. "Come on Jeff, don't be difficult." He grabbed Jeff's wrists and pinned them down above his head. "You don't always have to fight me. It wouldn't be as bad for you if you didn't always fight."

"Fuck you," Jeff said defiantly, squirming around determinedly. "Fuck you you-"

Randy cut him off with a kiss, shoving his tongue roughly into his mouth and exploring it eagerly. Jeff's eyes widened before he bit down as hard as he could. Randy yelped in pain, tasting his own blood as he quickly moved back. "Fuck!" he shouted, slapping Jeff across the face as hard as he could. "You stupid little…" His voice trailed off and he shook his head. "Fine. You want to play that way? Okay. We'll play that way." He got up and went over to his bag, grabbing the handcuffs and the cock ring out of it. He walked back over to Jeff and turned him over on his stomach and handcuffed his hands behind his back. "You know, I could just take you like this," he said as he yanked Jeff's jeans and boxers off. "Make you scream…make you bleed…but I want you to beg for it."

Jeff shook his head. "I won't," he said, trying to kick Randy away now since he didn't have his hands. "I-" He groaned as Randy grabbed his cock and began stroking it. "Stop that!"

"No," Randy refused. He put his full body weight on Jeff's legs so he couldn't keep kicking and stroked Jeff eagerly. And despite the fact that Jeff was still protesting, he was getting hard from Randy's stroking. Randy smirked and glanced at the cock ring, hoping he didn't have to use it. "Last chance Jeff," he said, kissing the helpless man's neck gently. "Just give in…I'll be gentle if you do."

"Go to hell Orton," Jeff spat out.

Randy sighed. "Fine. Be that way." He attached the cock ring to Jeff's dick before kissing his cheek. "I'll see you in a little bit," he whispered before getting up and leaving the room. He knew that as defiant as Jeff was, it was only a matter of time before he would break. He was going to want to be taken…all Randy had to do was be patient and wait.


	11. Chapter 11

Jeff groaned as he desperately rolled around the bed. He knew that he had to look like a total idiot but he was way WAY past caring. He had to get his hands free and the cock ring off before he went absolutely insane. His erection was starting to ache so bad that the thought of calling Randy back in to finish him off was getting more and more appealing by the minute. _I can't though_, he told himself. _I can't give him that kind of satisfaction. Once I do, he'll never stop. He'll think he can have an all access pass to my body…then again, he probably already thinks that since he's got me trapped here…_

Trying to shake his mind of that though, Jeff began trying to think up of some sort of plan. He knew that he was handcuffed, chained and having the worst case of blue balls in the history of mankind in some sort of cabin with a psycho that wanted to rape him. The question now was, where exactly was the cabin? What state were they in? Were they even in America? He was pretty sure they were, but he couldn't put anything past Randy at this point. The son of a bitch was probably capable of smuggling him into either Canada or Mexico if he really wanted to do it.

Jeff sighed and sat up, trying his best to ignore his erection in favor of looking down at his injured ankle. It was a really ugly purple/blue color now, and as much as he hated to think about it, he knew that he wouldn't get very far on it even if he wasn't chained up at the moment. It simply was not going to hold his weight and he would get caught way too easily if he tried to hop away on one foot.

"Fuck," he cursed, fighting the tears of frustration that wanted to spill out of him. What the fuck was he supposed to do? He couldn't just sit there and do nothing, but he also couldn't run. He had no way out, no way to contact anyone who could help him…"Fuck!" he repeated, laying back down and staring up at the ceiling angrily. He was still trying to think of some sort of plan, but he was also starting to wallow in his helplessness. The realization that there was no way out was really starting to get to him.

"Jeff?"

Jeff quickly shut his eyes, refusing to look at Randy as he came into the room. Every step Randy took made the floor creak loudly, which sent chills up Jeff's spine. His whole body was literally shaking in anger. If his hands would have been free, he would have gotten up and started strangling Randy. That was how fucking furious he was at the moment.

"Oh come on, don't play innocent with me," Randy said. Jeff could feel the bed dip as he sat down next to him. "We both know you're far from innocent." Jeff shivered as he felt Randy's mouth by his ear. "Remember what you did to me when you and Adam got me all tied up and at your mercy? You raped me-"

Jeff's eyes snapped open and he glared at Randy angrily. "I gave you what you deserved," he growled. "I was trying to teach you a lesson…too bad you're too stupid to let it take."

"Aw Jeff, I'm hurt," Randy said softly.

"Yeah right." Jeff went back to staring up at the ceiling. "Wait until Matt and Mark find you. You'll have a whole new understanding for the word by the time they're through with you."

Randy didn't respond to that. Instead he began running his fingers up and down Jeff's stomach. Jeff tried to ignore that, but it was hard because he was ticklish there. "Stop it," he growled. "Now."

"No," Randy refused simply. His fingers began to drift lower, getting closer and closer to Jeff's crotch.

"Randy…"

"You know, I'd figure that you would have started begging by now," Randy said, staring at Jeff's erection with a wide eyed fascination. "That looks like it's painful."

Now it was Jeff's turn not to respond. It really did hurt, but he couldn't let Randy know that. He wanted to stay strong, despite the fact that he needed to cum desperately.

Randy licked his lips and began running his fingers up and down Jeff's cock. "What would you do to me if you had me in your position?"

Jeff blinked, completely thrown off by that question. "What?" he said in disbelief.

Randy wrapped his hand around the base of Jeff's dick and began to stroke it. "What would you do to me if you had me in your position?" he asked again. "Would you leave me here to rot or would you play with me? Would you want me to like it or would you want it to hurt?" He began stroking Jeff even harder. "Huh? Come on, don't be shy. You can answer me if you want."

Jeff groaned and tried to get away from Randy's hand. His stroking was just making his dick hurt even more. "You're insane," he managed to gasp out. He meant it too. Randy was obviously completely and totally out of his fucking mind.

"Well yeah, where have you been this whole time?" Randy shook his head and discarded the jeans he had put on while he had left Jeff alone. He hadn't even bothered to put on a shirt. "I think I've firmly established that my mind is not exactly in its right state."

Jeff swallowed heavily. He wasn't sure that Randy being aware of his own insanity was a good or a bad thing. "Randy-" His voice died as Randy spread his legs apart. He tried to kick him off with his good foot, but his efforts were completely futile. Randy managed to thrust into him without any problem, making him scream in pain.

"Would you take me like this?" Randy whispered in Jeff's ear, pounding into his body without any thought about the pain that he was causing the other man. "Huh? Would you make it hurt? Make me scream?" He licked his lips and studied Jeff's pained faced carefully. "Make me bleed?"

Jeff bit down on his lower lip and looked away. How the fuck was he supposed to answer that question? He knew that he sure as hell didn't want to tell Randy something he wanted to hear. That would just egg him on even more.

Randy growled and forced Jeff to look at him again. "Just because you're cute when you're mad doesn't mean it's going to get you anywhere," he informed him. "I just thought you should know that."

"Fuck you Randy," Jeff said, wincing in pain. He had to cum so badly that it was getting harder and harder not to beg. The only thing that was keeping him from doing it was the fact that his pride was really the only thing that he had at the moment. If he lost that, then he had nothing.

Randy smirked. "Maybe if you're good…" He glanced down at Jeff's erection before yanking off the cock ring. Jeff came almost immediately, hating himself for it. "I fucking hate you," he muttered, feeling absolutely disgusting as Randy blew his load in him.

"Yeah well…tough shit." Randy kissed Jeff on the cheek before stroking his hair. "Because I love you."

"Obsession isn't love Randy. It never has been and it never will be. Get that through your thick fucking head."

Randy's eyes darkened and for a moment Jeff was sure that he was going to get slugged. But then Randy just got up and stormed out of the room. Jeff held his breath for a very long moment, only releasing it when Randy didn't come back with some sort of sadistic looking weapon to use on him. _Fuck…I've got to get out of here. Son of a bitch is going to snap for good on me and then I'm really fucked._

…

Matt entered the coffee shop and looked around. When he saw that Mark and Glenn were already there, he walked over to their table and sat down across from them. "You two look pissed," he observed.

Glenn just nodded while Mark didn't even respond. Matt sighed and folded his arms over his chest. "Can you tell me?"

"Mark found a little shrine of Jeff at Randy's house," Glenn answered. "And on top of that, Adam called and said Jay is on his way to join in on the search. Mark here is ready to strangle some people."

Matt sighed. Adam had already called him about Jay and he in turn had tried calling Jay himself, only to get his voicemail. Despite still hating Jay for hurting his younger brother, he recognized the fact that they needed all the help they could get at this point. Every moment that Randy had Jeff was another moment that Jeff could get seriously hurt. "Well I've got some good news," he said, taking the rubber band that was around his wrist and using it to pull his hair back into a ponytail.

"Really?" Mark asked, not sounding like he believed it.

"Yeah. I talked to Nate and he promised me that by tomorrow morning at the latest, he'll have a list of places Randy might hide Jeff."

Both Glenn and Mark looked shocked by that. "How is he going to get that?" Glenn asked.

"Well according to him, between his uncle's many ex-wives, the distant cousins and their exes, there's got to be a perfect hideout hidden in there somewhere for Randy. At least it'll give us somewhere new to look."

"And you trust him?" This was Mark asking this.

Matt nodded. "Yeah. I've always heard rumors that he hates Randy and so far he's proven them right. Believe me, he doesn't want Randy to get away with this."

"He better not," Mark growled. "Or he's dead meat too."


	12. Chapter 12

"_I'm not coming in there!" Jay yelled as Jeff swam around. They were in Cameron for Matt's birthday and Jeff had decided that it was a good idea to go swimming at eleven at night. Jay had tagged along because he couldn't pass up an opportunity to see his baby all wet but there was no way he was getting in that lake himself. _

"_Why not?" Jeff asked. He pouted his lips and batted his eyes at Jay. "It's not dirty, I swear."_

"_But it's cold," Jay pointed out. "Look at you! You're shivering!"_

"_Am not," Jeff lied, his teeth chattering the entire time. He swiped his hand across the water and tried to get Jay with it. "Now get in here!"_

_Jay shook his head and folded his arms over his chest. "No way," he refused. "That cold of water will shrink poor Jay Jr. so bad that he'll never be the same again."_

_Jeff snorted loudly and shook his head. "You're such a dork Jay." He swam back to the shore and too started walking towards the Canadian. "If you're not going to come in then I will bring the water to you," he threatened._

_Jay's eyes widened and he took a couple of steps back. "You wouldn't dare," he said, even though he already knew that Jeff totally would do that. Jeff was just an evil, diabolical little fiend like that._

_Jeff laughed before he began running at Jay. Jay immediately took off running but he didn't get far. Jeff pounced on his back, sending him down to the ground. "Holy crap!" he yelled as his shirt soaked up Jeff's wetness. "That's cold!" _

"_It's not that bad you big baby," Jeff said as he hugged Jay tightly. "You just need to learn to take it like a man."_

_Jay raised his eyebrows at that. "Take it like a man huh?" He began wriggling around until he managed to roll himself on to his back. Then he bucked his hips up and managed to get roll himself on top of Jeff. "How's this for taking it like a man?" he asked as he pinned Jeff's hands down above his head._

"_It's good," Jeff replied, moving his head up so he could kiss Jay. _

"_Really?" Jay asked as he kissed Jeff back. He couldn't get enough of the way Jeff tasted. It was like a drug to him. A sweet, warm, drug that made him feel better than anything else in his life._

"_Really," Jeff confirmed._

_Jay smiled and kissed Jeff even more deeply, relishing in the feeling of Jeff's legs wrapping around him. This was absolutely perfect._

Jay sighed as he pulled into Nathan Orton's driveway. His mind had been replaying memories like that over and over again during the entire trip up to St. Louis, depressing him and making him feel like an even bigger jackass than he had before. He regretted losing Jeff more than he had ever regretted anything else in his entire life. He knew it was all his fault; he had been so selfish in wanting Jeff to stay out on the road with him that he had pushed him away and then got drunk and had every intention of finding the comfort in the arms of someone else. But what Jeff didn't know was that when he caught him, that had been the first time that it had ever happened. He knew Jeff didn't believe him and he had every right not to; but it was the truth nonetheless.

_Shit,_ Jay thought as he stepped out of the car right around the same time Mark and Glenn's motorcycles pulled up next to his car. _This isn't going to be pretty._

"I oughta fucking kick your skull in," Mark growled as soon as he was off his bike. He went straight for Jay's throat but Glenn grabbed Mark by the back of the shirt, which gave Jay just enough time to scoot up to the porch.

"We agreed that there wasn't time for that," Glenn reminded Mark, giving him a good hard shake for emphasis.

Mark scowled angrily as Matt parked his car and joined them. "I don't care what I agreed to," he muttered unhappily. "I just want to kill this mother fucker. This wouldn't have happened if he hadn't-"

"You don't know that," Matt said, surprising Jay by coming to his defense. "Orton's psycho. This could have happened even if Jay hadn't fucked up." He walked up the porch steps and gave Jay a look that clearly said that he was far from forgiven, even if he was defending him.

"I just want to help," Jay said, raising his foot up so he could kick the door in.

"Uh…what are you doing?" Matt asked with raised eyebrows.

"I'm gonna go interrogate Randy's brother."

"I hate to break this to you Jay, but he already agreed to help. That's why we're back here. He was supposed to make a list of places that Randy could be hiding Jeff."

"Oh." Jay lowered his foot and stuck his hands in his hands into his pocket, shrugging his shoulders sheepishly. "I did not know that."

Matt rolled his eyes and knocked on the door. Jay took a couple of steps back as Mark and Glenn got closer. He couldn't help himself. He was Public Enemy Number Two and would be number one again once Randy was taken care of.

Nathan opened the door and stepped outside, raising his eyebrows at the tense scene in front of him. "I miss something?"

"It's not important," Matt assured him. "Do you have the list?"

Nate nodded and handed Matt a piece of paper. "Here you go. There's a lot there I know-"

"You ain't a shittin'," Mark said unhappily as he, Glenn and Jay read the list over Matt's shoulder. "What the fuck is this shit? We'll never find Jeff at this rate."

"Not if you stay in a group. You would be better off splitting up," Nate replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a mother to comfort."

Jay shook his head as Nate went back into his house. "So are we going to split up then?"

Glenn nodded and pointed to Matt. "You get Jay."

Jay sighed. "You don't have to say it like I have a disease."

"I'll say it whatever way I want to. You got a problem with that?"

Jay quickly shook his head. He wasn't about to test Glenn at the moment. Not only was that a death wish, but it was a waste of time. "What do we do if Orton's not at any of the places in this list."

"Then we're back at square fucked," Matt said as Mark divided up the list. "And we can not go back to square fucked."

Jay agreed whole heartedly with that statement. If they went to square fucked, then Jeff was even more fucked than he was now. And they could not let that happen under any circumstances.

…

Randy sighed as he stared at the books on the bookshelf. Besides from playing with Jeff, there was absolutely nothing to do. No cable, no internet, no radio besides from the one in the car…he was going to go even crazier than he already was. "Fuck it," he muttered, abandoning his plan to read in favor of going upstairs to hunt for something to do in the attic. He seriously considered going and playing with Jeff again, but until he came up with a decent way to really break Hardy down this time, he figured the guy could use just a tad bit of a break.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath as he went into the attic. The place was so dirty and dusty that he couldn't take a breath without inhaling a whole bunch of crap. Putting his shirt over his nose and mouth, he went the rest of the way in and grabbed the first board game he saw before leaving and going to Jeff's room. Jeff was once again trying to yank himself out of his chain, which made Randy shake his head in exasperation. "When are you ever going to give it up?"

"Never," Jeff replied. His finger nails were actually starting to bleed because he was trying so hard. "You hear me Orton?"

"I hear you," Randy replied. He set the game down on the little table that was in the room and then sat down in one of the chairs. "But you're wasting your time."

"So?"

Randy sighed. "Would you just come over here?"

"Why?" Jeff asked. He stared at the Monopoly box like it had a bomb in it. "What do you have in there?"

"A game." Randy opened the box and began setting up the board and the money. He could tell Jeff was surprised to see the actual game instead of some kind of sex toy. "Come on, if I wanted to rape you I would have started by now. Now can you come over here?"

Jeff sat up, being extremely hesitant about this. "What happens if I don't want to?"

Randy smirked. "Do you really want to find out?"

Jeff sighed before reluctantly walking over to the table and sitting down. "I hate this game," he said childishly.

Randy rolled his eyes. "Lovely." He finished getting everything set up and handed Jeff the dice. "You first."

Jeff took the dice and immediately threw them right into Randy's eyes. Randy scowled and scooted back. That had hurt quite a bit. "You know, I'm trying to be nice-"

"Unless you plan on letting me go, I don't want anything to do with you Randy," Jeff said angrily. "You really think I want to sit here and play a board game with you? Are you that fucking disturbed?"

Randy shook his head. "Well what do you want me to do Jeff? Would you rather I stick to raping you? Because I can do that." He got up and grabbed Jeff by the hair. "You're not going home Jeff. You're mine, you understand me? Mine!"

Jeff winced in pain and swung his fist at Randy, punching him right in the jaw. Randy's head went with the blow and he finally had enough. Jeff didn't want to play nice? Fine. He could come up with a different game that would make Jeff regret being difficult with him in the first place.


	13. Chapter 13

Matt was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white and his fingers were going numb, but he really didn't give a shit about that at the moment. He and Jay were heading to Kansas City because that was where the first hideout on their list was. And between worrying about Jeff to the point where he was starting to have a severe panic attack, listening to Jay badly hum along to the radio and having a cop driving behind him and keeping him from going as fast as he actually wanted to go, he was about to completely lose his shit. He really was.

"Would you please just shut up?" he finally snapped at Jay. "I can't fucking concentrate when you're doing that."

Jay stopped and shook his head sheepishly. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"You should be," Matt muttered before letting one of the most awkward silences he had ever been a part of take over. It was upsetting to him because the two of them used to be such great friends. But once Jay had betrayed Jeff, that friendship had pretty much been ruined. Matt didn't put up with people betraying his younger brother. He knew exactly how it felt to be betrayed the way Jeff had been, so it was going to be extra hard for him to ever really forgive Jay for what he had done. He had never wanted Jeff to go through anything like that and it pissed him off that Jay had been weak and selfish enough to do that to his brother.

Jay wrung his hands together nervously, trying several times to say something but losing his courage before the words could come out. Matt let that go on for a few minutes, but then he had to stop and shake his head. "Just don't, okay?"

"You don't know what I was going to say," Jay said defensively.

"I don't really care what you were going to say," Matt said with a shake of his head. "So just save it, alright?"

"Fine," Jay said. "Whatever you say."

Matt nodded and kept driving, speeding up when the cop behind him took the next exit. The awkward silence was reigning supreme yet again, but of course, Jay couldn't just let things stay that way. It just wasn't in his nature. "What are we going to do if we actually find Randy?" he asked. "I mean, do we beat him up and hand him over to the police? Or do we do something a hell of a lot more permanent? Randy's obviously out of his mind and this whole thing just proves that he's not going to stop."

"I know," Matt said with a heavy sigh. "I know I know." He ran his tongue over his bottom lip and just shook his head. "I just want to find them first. Once we do that, we'll take care of Orton-by any means necessary."

Jay actually shuddered a little bit at those words. "Wow. That sounds really fucking scary coming from you."

"Yeah well, I've fucking had it," Matt muttered. If Randy wanted to be crazy and fuck with his brother, fine. He was just going to have to get even crazier and put that bastard in his place once and for all.

…

"Let me go!" Jeff shouted as loudly as he could. He was fighting Randy with everything he had, biting, scratching, punching, kicking-maybe it was all in vain but he didn't care. "Let me go let me go LET ME GO!"

"No," Randy growled. He grabbed Jeff by the hair and yanked back, his eyes filled with a completely deranged look.

"Bastard!" Jeff kicked Randy in between the legs before shoving him away and running out of the room, making it all the way into the living room before the chain finally stopped him in his tracks. "Fuck!" Keeping all of his weight on his good ankle, he started trying to claw the shackle off from his waist while also trying to pull the chain itself off of the boiler it was attached to. "Fuck fuck fu-" He yelped when the chain was pulled back violently, losing his balance and falling on his chest and stomach in the process. "NO!" he screamed as he tried to grab on to something to keep himself from being dragged back into the bedroom. "Leave me alone!"

Randy wasn't about to be stopped though. He pulled Jeff back about halfway through the hallway before coming out of the bedroom and delivering a stiff kick right to the side of Jeff's head. Jeff was completely stunned by the blow, and it gave Randy enough time to drag Jeff back into the bedroom and throw him down on the bed before the struggling started again. "Damn it Jeff," he growled. "Stop it!" He balled up his fists and punched Jeff in the face until he stopped trying to push him away and started trying to shield himself from the blows.

"I wanted to be nice," Randy said, punching Jeff in the stomach because it was unprotected. "I tried to be nice…you made me do this. You fucking stupid bastard, look what you're making me do!"

"Fuck you," Jeff gasped out, clutching his stomach with one hand and shielding his face with the other. "I'm not making you do shit."

Randy didn't like that answer. He yanked Jeff's arm down and backhanded him across the face as hard as he could before getting up just long enough to grab a pair of handcuffs out of his bag. "Get over here bitch," he snarled, climbing on top of Jeff and handcuffing his hands to the headboard. "There. That's better."

Jeff began pulling on the cuffs but it didn't do a bit of good. He was stuck in an extremely vulnerable position with a complete and total psycho. Part of him wanted to start begging and pleading, but he clamped down on his lips and fought that urge with every ounce of his being. He knew from experience that doing that just egged Orton on, so what was the point?

"Now let's see…how should I punish you?" Randy stared down at Jeff with a blank expression, taking his sweet time thinking about it before finally going back over to his bag and pulling out a whip. Jeff eyed it nervously, which made Randy smile softly when he noticed that. "This one is my favorite. I used to use it on Adam all the time." He walked back over to the bed and ran the leather up and down Jeff's torso. "Let's see if you scream as pretty as he did."

Jeff whimpered as the whip was brought down on his chest, but he didn't scream. Not the first time anyway. He kept his teeth tightly clenched on his tongue as the whipping continued, nearly biting a chunk right off of it before the pain finally became too much and he finally screamed. Randy grinned sadistically when he finally go the scream that he wanted, but that didn't mean he stopped the whipping. In fact, he just started bringing the whip down harder and faster, not stopping until he finally got tired. "You scream even prettier than Adam did," he said as he threw the whip aside and rubbed his tired shoulder. "Such a fucking sweet bitch."

Jeff closed his eyes and repressed his sobs. His chest and stomach were covered in bloody welts that felt like they were on fire. "Stop," he croaked as he felt the bed dip from Randy's weight being added on to it. "Leave me the fuck alone."

"Never," Randy replied. He slapped Jeff's stomach with an open palm, causing Jeff's eyes to open as he screamed in pain. Randy chuckled at that before spreading Jeff's legs and placing himself in between them. Jeff tried to kick him away, but it was no use. Randy thrusted inside of him as hard as possible, making him scream yet again.

"Oh yeah baby, scream for me," Randy whispered, grabbing a fistful of Jeff's hair and yanking back on it as hard as he could. "I love it when you scream."

Jeff tried not to scream, but the pain was just too much for him. He screamed with each and every single thrust, feeling too ashamed and dirty to live. Randy watched his face contort in pain with a morbid fascination before wrapping his hands around his neck and squeezing as hard as he could. Jeff's eyes widened and he immediately started trying to get out of Randy's grip, terrified out of his mind. Randy was squeezing way too tightly. Jeff couldn't even get a teeny tiny breath. _He's killing me…no no no no no…_

Just when Jeff's vision was starting to go black and the burning in his lungs got unbearable, Randy let go of his throat and allowed him to breathe. Jeff pretty much cried in relief, barely even noticing the cum that was trickling out of his body. He could see a whole bunch of dots dancing in front of his eyes, but all he could really focus on was Randy, who looked ready to strangle him again at the drop of a hat.

"I think it would be best if you played nice from now on," Randy said softly. "What do you think?"

Jeff nodded reluctantly, too scared to do anything else.

"Good boy."


	14. Chapter 14

Days passed. There weren't any clocks in the cabin and Jeff hadn't gotten a good look at Randy's watch, but it felt like days were going by. It was starting to drive him nuts because he didn't know what to do anymore. Fighting Randy hadn't done a bit of good but being submissive had just made Jeff feel dirty, so what was he supposed to do? Fight, give in, wait to be rescued, try more to escape…his brain was starting to hurt from trying to figure out what he needed to do. All he knew for sure was that he wanted to go home. He didn't care how it happened or what the cost was; he just wanted to be able to go home and forget this whole thing had even happened.

"Jeff! What do you want for breakfast?" Randy yelled for the kitchen.

"I don't care," Jeff responded, which was the truth. At this point, what he wanted to eat for breakfast was one of the least important things on his mind. He looked down at the chain on him hatefully before rolling over and closing his eyes. He had been doing his best to sleep as often as possible. Sleep was an escape for him and he was going to use it for as long as he could.

He almost managed to doze off, but before he could fall completely into slumber Randy came in and ruined it for him. "Get up Jeff," Randy ordered. "I've got food."

"I'm not hungry," Jeff said sullenly.

Randy just grunted and forced Jeff to sit up. "Eat," he grunted as he put a bowl of cereal into Jeff's lap. "Now."

Jeff glared at him but did what he was told. The only consolation he really had at this point was that the cereal was Fruit Loops. Those and Trix were the only kinds of cereal he even bothered to touch, and even then he would much rather just eat a few bags of Skittles instead.

Randy watched him eat for a few minutes before sighing and looking away. "This place is making me feel stir crazy," he admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Jeff, his cool eyes filled with a twistedness that Jeff had grown used to. "I can't stand this place. No TV, no internet…I think we should move."

"Move where?" Jeff asked angrily. "Where do you think you can take me? The only reason they haven't found me yet is because you have me in the middle of fucking nowhere."

"I'll find a place," Randy said. It was hard to tell whether he truly believed that or he was so determined to get his way that he was going to completely lie to himself in order to stay in the little fantasy world he was living in. "It'll be isolated but it'll have cable and-"

"Randy!" Jeff said firmly, raising his voice so that he could actually get the Viper's attention. Whether he was going to keep it for very long was completely debatable. "Listen to me. You have got to stop this. Do you have any idea what kind of hole you've dug yourself into?"

"I don't care. I love you."

It took every ounce of self control Jeff had not to start an argument over that statement. What was even the point anymore? They had had that conversation on more than one occasion and Randy was utterly blind to the truth of the situation. "You're hopeless," Jeff declared. "You're a complete hopeless idiot." He set the half eaten bowl of cereal off to the side and laid back on the bed. "If you're going to rape me just get it over with. I'm not in the mood for games today." He closed his eyes and waited for Randy to make a move. He was honestly expecting for Randy to get pissed and hurt him because that was what he was good at, but he was taken by surprise when he felt Randy lay down next to him and wrap his arms around him. He opened his eyes slightly and looked back at Randy, who was now snuggling with him like he was a giant teddy bear or something. _Crazy fucking bastard_, he thought to himself as he closed his eyes again and turned his head back in the direction it had been originally. He wasn't even going to bother with fighting the contact at the moment. If Randy was at least going to leave him at peace for now, he would put up with being touched by him.

…

"Fuck!" Mark shouted angrily as he and Glenn ended up in yet another dead end. This was starting to really piss him off. They had been to three different places so far and had come up empty handed each time. "Fuck fuck fuck!"

Glenn shook his head as he watched Mark throw his tantrum. "That's not going to solve anything you know."

"Shut up!" Mark growled. "Just shut up!" He picked up a chair and tossed it across the room. "I bet he's fucking loving this."

"Who, Randy?"

"No, Santa Claus," Mark said sarcastically. "Who the hell did you think I was talking about?"

Glenn put up his hands and tried to look innocent. "Hey man, don't take your anger out on me. I didn't do anything."

Mark just started muttering curses under his breath as his phone rang. "What?" he snapped angrily as he answered the call.

"You find him?" It was Matt.

"No," Mark replied. "I'm assuming you didn't either."

"No," Matt confirmed. He sounded beyond pissed and Mark didn't blame him. They were on a wild goose chase and there was no telling what condition Jeff would be in by the time they finally got to him…if they even got to him that was.

"Shit." Mark took a very long, deep breath in order to keep what was left of his composure. "Where are you going next?"

"Colorado," Matt answered. "What about you?"

"Minnesota."

"Okay. I'll call you later then."

"Fine." Mark hung up the phone and motioned for Glenn to follow him out the front door. "Come on. We're wasting time just standing here."

Glenn sighed and followed along like the good little brother he was. "You're going to kill Orton on sight, aren't you?"

Mark just grunted. He was too angry to give a proper response. All he could do was visualize strangling Randy as soon as he found him and smile at the very thought of it.


	15. Chapter 15

Jay leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He was absolutely exhausted. He and Matt had taken the red eye to Colorado and then hopped into a rental car so they could start driving to the cabin up in the mountains that Randy was possibly hiding Jeff at. Jay was absolutely exhausted but he couldn't rest. He hadn't been able to properly rest since this whole thing had started. He had tried a couple of times but all he could manage was to doze off and then wake up when thoughts about Randy hurting Jeff entered his mind. He felt like he was going absolutely insane and he didn't know how to make it stop. "How much longer?"

"A half hour, give or take," Matt replied. They had been driving for over an hour now and both of them were getting impatient. "As long as the weather isn't all jacked up and the roads are clear-" He stopped as Jay let out a long sigh and ran a hand over his face. "We're going to find him, alright?"

Jay nodded. He knew better than to disagree. Matt had to believe that they were going to find Jeff and so did he. One way or another, this had to end. They had to bring Jeff home and they had to make Randy pay for messing with someone he should have known to leave well enough alone in the first place.

…

"You really don't have to do this," Jeff said as Randy dragged by the wrist into the bathroom. Randy had just gotten out of the shower and now he was insisting on giving Jeff a sponge bath. Jeff was anything but for this plan; he would have much rather been allowed to bathe himself. It was bad enough that Randy had kidnapped him and raped him; having to be bathed like a child or an invalid was just insult to injury. "I can do it myself."

Randy shook his head and forced Jeff to sit down on the counter. "I want to do it," he said as he grabbed a wash rag and some soap.

Jeff shuddered and looked down. He knew that already and that was the damn problem. What Randy wanted, he did and he did it without any thought about to the damage he was doing and the pain he was causing. It was driving Jeff absolutely insane and he wanted to scream so bad that his chest ached uncontrollably. As much as he wanted to though, he couldn't scream. He couldn't scream and grab Randy and shook him until some form of sanity and sense entered his brain. He was too vulnerable as it was and he was going to need some kind of miracle to get out of this.

"I wanted to bring you into the shower with me earlier," Randy said, not noticing that Jeff was detaching himself as much as he could from the whole situation. "But I don't want that chain to get wet and rust up and I don't think I can trust you without it on. You've been more than a little difficult lately."

Jeff continued to look down, not intending to say anything until he saw what he felt was the biggest godsend in his entire life. Sitting on the floor between the shelves and the sink was a safety pin. Jeff tried to not to react at all because he didn't want to get Randy's attention. So (while being very very careful about how he did this), he switched his gaze to his lap before looking up at Randy and shaking his head gently. "How can you love someone when you don't trust them?"

Randy, who had been soaping up Jeff's chest and arms right at that moment, stopped and stared at him in shock. "What?" he said in disbelief.

Jeff licked his lips and kept going. He had come up with this idea in literally two seconds and he was hoping that this would work. This was the best chance he was going to get and he couldn't let it go to waste. "You love me don't you?"

"Yes," Randy said without hesitation. "Of course I do, you know that."

Jeff sighed and gently touched Randy's face. He was so lost in his little fucked up fantasy and right now that was a great thing. Jeff needed him to stay that way. "But you don't trust me. How can you really love me-"

"You keep pushing me away," Randy said defensively. "You keep running and trying to leave and I have to make you stay. I have to make you listen."

Jeff nodded and inched his face closer to Randy's. "I know I screwed up," he admitted. "I know I rejected you and made you crazy. I shouldn't have fought you so hard." He cupped Randy's face in his hands and nodded vehemently. "I can change though. If you can forgive me, we can start fresh. Can you do that Randy? Huh? Can you give me another chance?"

Now a logical person would have seen that there was something fishy about Jeff's sudden change of heart. But Randy was so detached from any kind of reasonable thinking that he took Jeff's words to heart. He kissed Jeff deeply, plunging his tongue into the younger man's mouth and groping him eagerly. Jeff resisted the urge to shudder and kissed back, slowly but surely wiggling himself off the counter so he could make his move. _Please God, let this work…_He kneed Randy in the groin as hard as he could before grabbing the back of his neck and bashing his forehead on to the corner of the sink twice, knocking him unconscious. "Holy shit…" Jeff tried to calm his racing heart as he reached down and picked up the safety pin, opening it up while searching the shelves for another one to help make what he was about to do easier.

"Come on come on…yes!" Jeff found another safety pin and he cast a nervous glance at Randy. Part of him expected the Viper to pop back up and get him as he was picking the lock on the chain. Luck was on his side though and he managed to finally get the damn chain off of him without Randy being any the wiser.

Making the most of the time he had gotten himself, Jeff ran as fast as he could into the bedroom, throwing on some of Randy's clothes and shoes before running out of the cabin and into the cold mountain air. "Holy fuck," he muttered under his breath, his teeth immediately chattering so hard that he felt like he was going to crack some of them. There were chill bumps all over his body but he kept right on running, following the road down the mountain and tripping and falling several times as he went, scraping his knees and hands up all to shit. The thin air caused by being so high up made it hard for him to breathe and eventually he just about collapsed completely, only managing to stay on his feet because of the rush of adrenaline that went through him when he saw a car coming his way. "HELP!" he screamed as he waved his hands in the air. "Help me!"

The car came to a screeching halt and out jumped Matt and Jay. "Jeff!" Matt yelled. He ran and caught Jeff before he collapsed, hugging him so tightly that it just about broke a rib or two.

"Where's Randy?" Jay asked, already on the lookout for the unstable man. "Where-"

"Cabin," Jeff answered as he gasped for breath. "I knocked out but I don't know if he's still…get me out of here. Please, before he wakes up and realizes that I'm not there."

Matt nodded and immediately scooped Jeff up into his arms. "We're going," he assured him. "Jay can you-"

"I got it," Jay assured him. He pulled out his phone and started dialing numbers as he got into the driver's seat so Matt could put Jeff in the passenger's seat with him and hang on to him for dear life. Jeff clung to Matt desperately, hoping that this wasn't a dream. _If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up. Ever._

…

Randy woke up a little while later with a horrible pain in his head. He sat up slowly, clutching at the cut he had sustained and groaning loudly. It took him a minute to remember what had happened, and when it came back to him he was pissed. Jeff had tricked him. That little bitch had used his love against him. "Mother fucker…" He got back up to his feet and stumbled out of the room, fully intending on making Jeff pay when he heard the front door being broken down and the sound of people running in. Before he could comprehend what was happening, four police officers had practically tackled him, forcing him on to his stomach so they could handcuff his hands behind his back.

"Randy Orton, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Jeff Hardy. You have the right to remain silent-"

Randy groaned and tuned out the rest of that speech. _Son of a fucking bitch…_


	16. Chapter 16

Shortly after Randy was arrested Jay and Matt took Jeff to the police station so Jeff could make his statement about what had happened with Randy. Since the kidnapping had crossed several state lines, it was a federal case. Randy was being held in custody by the feds and they would be the ones dealing with him. The people Jeff talked to said something about a trial or some shit like that but he was praying to whatever god that would listen that it would not come to that. He just wanted to Randy to admit his guilt and go to jail for a billion years so he could move on his life without having to constantly look over his shoulder. He was tired of this bullshit. He just wanted to move on with his life already.

Once they were done talking to the cops, Jeff was taken to the hospital to get checked over and once he threw a fit about not staying the night for observation, Matt got him out of there so they could get some Taco Bell and stay in a hotel until morning. He had already called everyone else and they were all going to meet up in Cameron. Jeff knew he was going to get fussed over big time but honestly, he didn't even give a damn at the moment. He would much rather be smothered by family and friends than stuck somewhere all alone with Randy.

"Here, let me get that for you," Jay said. He opened their hotel room door for Jeff and let him walk in.

"Thanks," Jeff said, still so relieved to have his freedom back that he was actually happy to see Jay. That would probably wear off eventually and he would go back to not being happy when the way their relationship ended came back to haunt him again.

"No problem," Jay said. He went to shut the door and just about hit Matt in the face with it.

"Dude! What the hell?" Matt exclaimed.

"Sorry," Jay said sheepishly. "I wasn't holding it for you dude."

Jeff couldn't help but snort at that. "Poor Matty doesn't get any love." He took the bag of food from Matt and set it down on the table. Without even waiting for the others, he took what food was his and then grabbed his drink before plopping down on the bed. Normally this was the part where Matt told him he should eat at the table so he wouldn't get crumbs all over the bed but this time he didn't even bother to do that. He just smacked Jay on the back of the head before getting the rest of the food out of the bag and sitting down in the nearest chair. "I ought to toss your food out the window," he informed Jay.

Jay shook his head and grabbed his dinner protectively. "You would never do that."

"Oh yeah? And why not?"

"You wouldn't want to hear me whine," Jay answered.

Matt smirked, an evil glint appearing in his dark eyes. "I could just toss you out the window along with your stupid food."

Jay immediately began to pout and whine and Jeff had to roll his eyes. It was just like the old days, only Adam wasn't around to make attempts in stealing their food _Fuck I miss those days,_ Jeff thought wistfully. Everything had been so simple back then. Matt was the brains and the driver, Jay was the adorable goof, Adam was the annoying goof and he was the awesome one (although the others had always described him as a lazy, overgrown teenager but that was just because they sucked). There were no crazy people stalking him and the biggest thing he had to worry about was not spacing off and forgetting what time he had to be at the arena.

They ate mostly in silence, with Matt and Jay occasionally making an attempt at small talk. Jeff nodded along but didn't really join in, at first too absorbed in his food to do anything but eat. Rapidly though, the elephant in the room became clearer and clearer. Matt and Jay were still in the dark about all that had transpired with Randy. They obviously wanted to know everything that had happened but they didn't want to push him into talking when he wasn't ready to. And honestly, he was not ready to talk about it again any time soon. Going over it with the police had been enough to last him for quite awhile. Right now, he just wanted to forget it all ever happened. It was going to be hard, especially considered he had a constant reminder in Randy's clothes, which he was still wearing, but he sure as hell was going to try. "How do you guys feel about watching a movie?" he asked when they were done eating.

Jay quickly nodded along, elbowing Matt even though he was already doing the same thing. "Sure. If that's what you want to do."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at them, Jeff grabbed the remote and began to browse through the selection of movies there were to order. "Okay, there's Prince of Persia, Clash of the Titans, Cop Out, Law Abiding Citizen-"

"Whichever one you want is fine Jeffro," Matt assured him.

This time Jeff did roll his eyes. He hadn't been asking them in order to not get an opinion and Jay knew that and decided to speak up.

"How do you feel about Clash of the Titans?"

Jeff shrugged and went ahead and ordered the movie. "It sounds good to me." He leaned back on the bed and gave Matt his best puppy dog eyes. "Matty? Will you go get me some candy?"

"Yeah sure." Matt got up and pulled out his wallet as he left the room with no argument, which surprised the hell out of Jeff.

Jay chuckled and took a sip of his Mountain Dew. "You're going to milk that for all it's worth, aren't you?"

"Well if he's going to make it that easy, then fuck yeah," Jeff confirmed. "He'll be my candy getting bitch from this day forth." He downed the rest of his drink in one gulp and then looked at Jay. "You. Dew me. Now."

Jay looked absolutely flabbergasted by what he just said. "What?"

Jeff's whole body turned red when he realized how that sounded. "Mountain Dew," he clarified. "Go get me some from the vending machine?"

"Oh." Jeff couldn't tell whether Jay sounded relieved or disappointed. Jeff was hoping for relieved but he had a feeling the latter was more of the likely one. "Okay sure. Whatever you want."

…

Several hours later Jeff was asleep in one bed, Matt in the other and Jay was banished to the pullout couch that was in the room. Not that Jay really mind it…well okay, he did mind it. He minded it a lot. But he wasn't about to dare complain about it. As it was, he was lucky to be in this room at all. He knew Matt certainly hadn't forgiven him for hurting Jeff and there was no telling how Jeff himself felt. He was obviously traumatized by the whole deal with Randy; any time Jay or Matt touched him when he wasn't expecting it he would flinch until he realized it was just them. Jay really wanted to have Jeff get it all off his chest so he wouldn't hold it on the inside and drive himself nuts with it but he knew Jeff couldn't be pushed. Jeff would talk about it when he wanted to and not a minute sooner.

Feeling wide awake now, Jay rolled off the couch and stretched his limbs. He wanted to take a shower but going in and doing it now would probably wake Matt and Jeff up, which he knew they wouldn't appreciate. So he decided that sneaking out and going down to the hotel bar would be the next best thing. But before he could get his shoes on, the sound of Jeff whimpering in fear caught his attention. "Jeff?" he said softly, carefully creeping over to his ex-boyfriend's bed. Jeff was clutching the sheets for dear life, a look of fear contorting his sleeping face. "Jeff?"

"No," he whimpered. "Randy don't-"

"Jeff you're dreaming," Jay said gently. "Wake up. Randy's not here…" He reached out and touched Jeff's shoulder, making the younger man almost scream as he violently woke up. Jay quickly pulled his hand back and let Jeff calm himself back down a bit before speaking again. "Are you okay?"

Jeff sniffled and ran his hand through his hair, which was not kind of sweaty. "I've been better," he confessed.

Jay winced sympathetically. "You want to talk about it?"

Jeff quickly shook his head. "No." He glanced over at Matt, who was still sleeping and then gave Jay an awkward. "Can you…can you just lay with me? I don't want to sleep alone…"

Jay nodded, trying to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat at Jeff's words. "Of course." He climbed into bed alongside Jeff, pulling him back down to a laying position and then wrapping his arms around him gently. "That good?"

Jeff nodded. "Yeah. Just no funny stuff, okay?"

"Okay," Jay agreed. "I promise." He had wanted to hold Jeff again since the moment he lost him and he was not about to screw it up now. Jeff nestled his head against Jay's chest and eventually fell back asleep. Jay stayed awake though, holding on to Jeff for dear life and ready to chase away any other nasty Orton dreams that would make the mistake of rearing their ugly head.


	17. Chapter 17

Randy kept his back pressed against the cold cell wall as he stared out in front of him blankly. This whole thing had been a gigantic blur to him. He had been living so deep in his own obsession that he hadn't really given any real thought to the consequences of it all. All that had mattered to him was Jeff and now that had been taken away from him. He had nothing. Absolutely nothing and it made him want to scream and pitch a fit right then and there until he got his way. Why couldn't people just leave him alone? Why did they have to target him just because he was obsessed with Jeff? He could be obsessed with worse things. Obsessing over Jeff was natural. Who wouldn't obsess over him? Anyone who wouldn't were the crazy ones. Everything about Jeff drove Randy wild. Randy did know that he was really out of control as far as Jeff was concerned but he didn't care. He honestly did not care.

"Mr. Orton?"

Randy's eyes narrowed as a small man in a suit approached his cell. "What?" he snapped.

The small man gulped and tugged at his collar nervously. "I'm Mr. Howard, your attorney-"

"Did you post my bail or something?" Randy asked impatiently. He didn't really care for this guy already. Who had even hired this guy? He was quite certain he hadn't done it himself.

Mr. Howard sighed nervously. "You were denied bail, remember? You're being held here throughout your trial."

Oh yeah. That had completely slipped his mind. "Well what the hell do you want then?" He didn't give a shit about how nasty he was being. He was stuck in a place he didn't want to be in and it was obvious this guy wasn't even really on his side. Randy could see the fear in his eyes. The man didn't want to be there at all. He probably didn't even get a choice in all of this. He was just forced into this and would much rather be anywhere but there.

"I uh…I wanted to talk to you about the not guilty plea you put in," Mr. Howard informed him. "Honestly Mr. Orton…I don't think you're going to win this."

"You're not getting paid to think," Randy reminded him. "You're getting paid to get me out of here. Now I don't care what you have to do or what argument you have to use but you're going to get me out of here-"

"What about a deal?" Mr. Howard asked. "I can try to go to the prosecutor for a deal-"

"If it don't involve jail time then I'm all for it."

Mr. Howard slowly shook his head. "I don't think jail time can be avoided. The seriousness of all this-"

"I _know_ how serious it is," Randy snapped out of irritation. "And I don't care. Just do your job and try to get me out of here, okay?"

"Okay," Mr. Howard agreed. He backed away and Randy went back into staring off into space, trying to cushion the seriousness of his situation with thoughts of Jeff. It was all going to be okay if he kept thinking about Jeff. Sure that belief wasn't based off any kind of reality but he didn't care. It was how he felt and right now, he had free reign to run with it.

…

As Jay pulled up in front of Jeff's house, Jeff saw that he had quite the welcoming party waiting for him. Gil, Mark, Glenn, Shannon and the rest of the Hardy Show cast and crew were actually out in the front yard waiting for him. "Damn," he said under his breath. He glanced over at Matt and shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me there was going to be a party? I would have gotten dressed up."

Matt shook his head. "I had no idea about this Jeffro. They all did this on their own."

Jeff studied Matt closely for a moment, trying to get a feel for if he was fibbing or not. It didn't appear that he was so Jeff accepted his words and got out of the car, only to just about get tackled to the ground by an overexcited Shannon.

"Hey, what the fuck did I tell you about doing that?" Mark yelled in exasperation.

Shannon ignored him and continued to hug Jeff like he hadn't seen him in years as opposed to the week and a half he had been really gone. "Let's not ever take a road trip again," he said in a very serious voice. "How does that sound?"

Jeff couldn't help but smile slightly at his best friend. "That's okay with me," he agreed. He would actually be content never ever leaving his house ever again. If he could have his way, he would just lock himself inside and never come out. He could get Matt and his dad and Shannon to bring him stuff from the outside world. He would just stay inside where it was safe.

As soon as Shannon let him go, Jeff was bombarded by pretty much everyone but Mark, Gil and Glenn. They knew to keep their distance and they were trying to get the others to do the same thing but they really weren't being listened to. Jeff handled it all as well as he possibly could, assuring them all that he was okay but refusing to go into any detail as to what happened. He liked all these people but he couldn't even begin to discuss what went down during his time in captivity. It was hard enough just trying to come to terms with it, so telling everyone he knew all about it was just not shit he could handle at the moment. He didn't even know if he would ever be ready to fully discuss it. Outside of a very few select group of people, nobody else was really going to get just how nuts Randy really was. And honestly, Jeff didn't even think anyone else truly wanted to know. They were better off being ignorant about it. He wouldn't wish being the object of Randy's desires on anyone except for Randy himself. It would truly be karma if he could find out how all of this bullshit felt.

"Okay that's enough!" Mark finally said, actually getting kind of violent with his pushing and shoving to get people away from Jeff. A few people tried to object but Glenn silenced them with a glare. "Get in the house and have the fucking snacks you all brought! Give the kid some room to breathe!"

Jeff pouted his lips and shook his head at Mark as everyone else headed into the house. "I'm not a kid you know," he mumbled. "I've been an adult for a very long time now."

"You're a kid if I say you're a kid," Mark replied. "Now deal with it." He put his arm around Jeff's shoulders and gave him a tight squeeze. "Orton's fucking lucky I wasn't the one who found him. There wouldn't have been enough left of him for the police to find."

"We could always blow up the prison he's staying in," Jay suggested helpfully. "That'll take care of him."

Glenn rolled his eyes at that. "Oh yes, let's blow up a federal prison. That's a fantastic idea Jason. Really, why don't we do that?"

Jay glared at Glenn unhappily. "Hey, it was just a suggestion! You don't have to take my head off for it."

Gil just shook his head at Jay's suggestion while not taking his eyes off of Jeff. "You holding up okay?"

Jeff shrugged. "I guess. There's not much else I can do, right?"

Gil smiled weakly and reached out and touched Jeff's shoulder. "Right. You'll be okay."

"Oh yeah? How do you know?"

"You're alive aren't you? It didn't kill you so it's time to get stronger. And don't give me that look just because it's a cliché. It's the truth."

"I know," Jeff said with a sigh. "It's just…it's hard you know? Because Randy's locked up now but what if he gets out on bail or something?"

Mark shook his head. "He's not getting out on bail. Absolutely no way. He kidnapped you and crossed like five or six state lines in the process. That's some serious fucking felony shit right there."

"Yeah and that's not including all the assault charges," Shannon chimed in. "Dude, let's face facts. Randy's fucked and he's probably the only one too stupid to realize it. And if it goes to trial and you testify him, that just further fucks him." A slightly worried look crossed his face as he realized what he had just said. "You are going to testify right?"

Jeff nodded very hesitantly. It was a very scary thought but deep in his heart, he knew it had to be done. He was honestly done with all of this shit. He wanted it to end and he was more than willing to do anything in his power to make it be so. "Yeah," he said, knowing that he was probably not prepared to even begin to do that but also knowing that he really wasn't going to have a choice. He was just going to have to suck it up and do it, whether he was ready or not. "I will."


	18. Chapter 18

For the fourth time that night Jeff woke up in a cold sweat, screaming in fright despite his best attempts to stay silent. He had been having nightmares again and he hated it. He really did. He was safe at home now where nobody was going to hurt him but Randy was still getting to him in his mind while he slept. There was no sanctuary and it made it so he was getting no rest and making it even harder to keep Randy off his mind while he was awake.

"Jeff?" Matt said, barging back in within a matter of seconds. He had wanted to just sleep in the room to begin with but Jeff had insisted on making a go of it on his own and he had reluctantly agreed to it.

"I'm fine," Jeff lied, grunting and shielding his eyes as Matt went ahead and flipped the light on. "Really, I'm fine."

Matt didn't buy that for a second. He knew Jeff too well to do that. "You want to talk about it?" he asked, even though he had to already know the answer. They had gone through this so many times at this point Jeff was getting really irritated with having to do it over and over again.

"No," Jeff said. "I don't."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Matty please, what is talking about it going to do? I know Randy's not here and can't hurt me and I know the nightmares are because I'm still scared of him…what else is there to talk about?"

Matt shrugged, backing off because he could see I was not ready to talk and I would really snap if he kept trying to push me to talk about it. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

I shook my head and ran my hand through my hair. "No thanks."

"Do you want me to stay in here with you?"

Part of Jeff was tempted to say yes but he forced himself to shake his head in refusal. He just felt like taking Matt up on his offer would be letting Randy win in some way and he couldn't allow himself to do that. He had to have some kind of dignity somewhere, even it was small and he felt like breaking down and giving up on it so he could sob himself to sleep in Matt's arms again.

"Okay. Just yell if you need me, okay?" Matt started to very slowly and reluctantly leave the room when Jay shoved his way past him holding a glass of water and a stuffed teddy bear.

"Out of my way Matt, I've got this shit." Either Jay didn't realize he was late to the party or he was ignoring it in his pure determination to comfort Jeff. He handed the younger man the water and the teddy bear and then sat down on the bed with him and gave him a very serious look. "Do you want me to hold you?"

"I would rather you didn't," Jeff replied. He took a drink of the water and tried to resist hugging the teddy bear because he wasn't comfortable with Jay being all over him. He still felt a lot of anger and pain over Jay cheating on him and it was going to be awhile before he was truly even remotely over it. Jay trying to help him was nice because he seemed really sorry and stuff and was looking to prove it but there were moments where he tried to take it too far and Jeff needed him to back the fuck off a bit.

"Okay." Jay tried to hide the disappointment in his voice as he got up. He caught Matt shaking his head at him and he immediately went on the defensive. "What?"

"Nothing," Matt said as he continued to shake his head. "I said nothing."

"Maybe not out loud but you still said it," Jay insisted. "You're totally verbal with your non-verbalness. You speak volumes with your eyes."

Matt blinked, taking that in for a moment before shaking his head and walking away. Jay followed soon after and Jeff rolled over on his side and hugged the teddy bear tightly, knowing full well that he probably wasn't going to get any more sleep that night. His mind was racing too much and now that his mind was going, he was going to think about shit he had been trying not to, which meant his anxiety was going to go through the roof. He really needed to talk to someone about getting some Xanax or something because he honestly couldn't stand this. With his anxiety being the way it was now, he was never ever going to rest easy ever again, which really sucked to think about.

Most of his anxiety came from thinking about Randy of course. Even though he had stated that he would testify in the trial if it came to that, now that he had had time to dwell on it that decision was filling him with an overwhelming sense of dread. How was he going to get up on the stand and talk about everything Randy had done to him? He couldn't even really talk about the whole ordeal to his own family and they already knew what Randy was capable of doing. But if he didn't testify, what if Randy got out? Or what if he did and Randy got off anyway? All these thoughts made his chest tighten up to the point where he couldn't breathe. He couldn't fucking breathe and he needed to make it stop.

There didn't seem to be very many options for him though. It wasn't like he could run away from this. Well he could he guessed but it wouldn't do much good in the long run. Running away wouldn't relieve the anxiety because deep in his heart, he felt like if Randy really wanted to, he would get out and find him. No matter where he ran, no matter where he hid, Randy would find him and hurt him again.

"Oh fuck me," he groaned, rubbing his eyes and sitting up, deciding to just give up on sleep entirely until he was literally about to collapse from exhaustion. He had to do something sooner rather than later to make this shit stop. He couldn't even think about what to do but he knew that he needed to do it fast. He was going to lose his shit completely if he didn't.

…

The days were all starting to bleed together. Randy was feeling so cooped up that he really couldn't stand it. He wanted out and he wanted out now but in he stayed, tormented by thoughts of Jeff. Maybe it would have helped if he had some visitors but nobody but his lawyer was coming to see him. His own family was basically avoiding him. His father did call once, but that was to berate him and tell him not to expect any help from them. He was going to have to sink or swim on his own and honestly that was fine with him. He didn't give a fucking shit about any of them. He hadn't in like…years. It wasn't like they had been doing much for him in the first place anyway.

Then, one day, he found himself being led by the guards to the visiting area. Someone had come to see him. At first he really didn't even give a shit; he figured it was his mother because she was the type to break down and see her kids no matter what shitty thing they did. But as he sat down on in the chair and grabbed the phone, he saw that it wasn't his mother sitting on the other side of the glass. It was Jeff.

His heart did a weird flippy thing and he immediately grabbed the phone and pressed his hand up against the glass, wanting to touch Jeff so badly that it hurt. "Jeff…"

"Don't look so happy," Jeff snapped, moving his chair back as far as he could while still being able to stay on the phone.

"You came."

"Believe me, I didn't want to and I already know I'm probably a fucking retard for doing this. But there's something I need to talk to you about."

Randy nodded, barely even listening to a word Jeff was saying.

"Randy? Are you listening to me? If you're not going to actually listen then I'm going to leave."

"I'm listening," Randy said quickly. He didn't want Jeff to leave at all. He wanted him to stay and keep showing that he cared. He showed up to begin with so that meant he had to care and the longer he stayed the more he cared.

"Your trial is coming up and I want you to know that if it takes place I will testify on behalf of the prosecutor. But I'm here right now to beg you to not let it come to that."

"Jeff-"

"Plead guilty. Fucking show that you have an ounce of humanity left in you and plead guilty so you can stop putting me through shit."

Randy shook his head and leaned closer towards the glass. "Jeff you don't have to do anything you don't want to. Don't let them bully you into testifying against me-"

"Randy!" Jeff balled up his fists and he looked like he really wanted to punch his way through the glass so he could hit Randy in the face. "You're just…ugh! Don't you get it? The jig is up Randy. You kidnapped me, you assaulted Shannon, you raped me-you're so hosed. Just make this easier on the both of us and plead yourself out. I'm fucking begging you to do it."

"I don't think I can," Randy said with a shake of his head. "I don't think I'll ever get out of here if I do and what about you? I can't be with you locked up in here."

Jeff's eyes narrowed and he shook his head. "Randy, if you really loved me as much as you claimed, you would do this for me." Without another word Jeff slammed the phone down and stormed away, making Randy scream in frustration.


	19. Chapter 19

"So you really went there to tell him to plead guilty?" Jay said in disbelief. He was sitting in Gil's living room eating dinner with Shannon and the Hardys and was having a hard time wrapping his head around Jeff's latest actions. "You really really did that?" He looked to Matt, who was just shaking his head. The older Hardy obviously did not approve of this either.

Jeff nodded and picked at his food, which had to be going cold at this point. He hadn't said a whole lot since coming back from his trip, which was going with the theme he had of not saying much since being rescued. It was hard seeing him like this because it was so obvious how much he had been affected by all that Randy had done to him. It just made Jay hate Randy even more than he already did, which he hadn't thought to be possible considering all the shit Randy had done before.

"I'm guessing it didn't go so well," Shannon said with a sigh.

"No…" Jeff set his plate aside and leaned back in his chair. "It was all a fucking waste. I don't know why I even bothered. I knew he wasn't going to see reason. I just knew that he wasn't but I went anyway. I'm so stupid!"

"You're not stupid," Gil assured him. "Believe me, I raised you myself and I know for a fact you're not stupid. You just wanted to believe that this could somehow be resolved in an easy way. Hell I want this to be resolved as easily and painlessly as possible and that has to be nothing compared to the way you feel."

"I wish Mark was still here," Jeff said under his breath. Mark had left earlier because of a family obligation and while that was completely understandable, it didn't change the fact that Jeff still wished he was around. "I would be asking him to find a way to get his hands on Randy and end this shit permanently."

"He's always a phone call away," Matt pointed out. "Or ask me. I'd gladly do it." He wasn't just saying that to make Jeff feel better. He really did want to kill Randy for everything he had put his brother through.

Jeff nodded along to what Matt said but it failed to perk him up. Sure it was one thing to promise to kill Randy and all that but it didn't mean that it was actually going to happen. Not now anyway. Randy was behind bars, safe from Matt and Mark's wrath. And unless someone else in jail offed him for whatever reason, Jeff was going to be facing off with him in court soon enough.

Jay saw the troubled look on Jeff's face and couldn't take it. He set his plate on the coffee table and got up so he could move right next to Jeff. "It'll be okay," he promised. Without even thinking about it he put his arm around Jeff's shoulders and gave him what he thought was a comforting squeeze. "It's going to be okay."

"You don't _know_ that," Jeff said, his voice gaining a bit of a harder edge. "And don't _do_ that. You're violating my bubble."

"Your bubble?"

"Yes." Jeff rolled his eyes and grabbed Jay's hand so he could remove his arm from around his shoulders. "My bubble. I appreciate the support and all but uh…my bubble." He quickly glanced at the others before getting up and leaving the room. They all heard the back door open and close and once it was shut, all eyes turned to Jay.

"What?" he said sheepishly, not liking the looks he was getting from all of them. "I was just trying to help!"

Matt shook his head and started to get up. "Well I don't think it worked."

Jay knew that and he put his hand up to stop Matt in his tracks. "Let me go out there," he requested. "Please, I need to talk to him. I gotta straighten things out with him."

"I'm not worried about what you need right now," Matt informed him. "I'm worried about _him_. _His_ needs are what matter right now."

"I KNOW that," Jay said, not liking Matt's tone because it was seemingly implying that he didn't care about Jeff's needs. "I never said my needs should matter. I just…I feel like I fucking owe it to him to try to help him. If he tells me to fuck off, I'll come back in and let you take care of him. But I will be going out there…so just like, deal with it and stuff."

Matt scowled but Shannon shook his head and held the older Hardy back while Jay left the room and went out to join Jeff on the back porch. Jeff was sitting in the swing that was back there, smoking away on one of the cigarettes he had bought on his way back from seeing Randy. "You know those things will kill ya," Jay said lightly as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He wanted to sit down next to Jeff but he didn't risk it. Jeff obviously wanted some distance between them and he didn't want to anger him by not going with that.

Jeff shrugged and took yet another drag of the cancer stick. "Honestly? I wouldn't fucking mind right about now." He tapped his foot compulsively in an effort to soothe himself. "It would be easier." His eyes drifted off to the side before reluctantly going back to Jay. "Why are you out here?"

"Because I care," Jay answered.

"You care huh?" Jeff didn't sound too convinced by that. "If you care so much then tell me this: where was your caring when you fucking cheated on me?"

Jay swallowed nervously at the question. _Oh boy, here we go…_ "Jeff I didn't come out here to fight."

"What did you come out here for then?" Jeff asked, throwing the lit cigarette down and stepping on it to put it out. "To help me? To make me feel better? I appreciate the effort Jason. I really do. I'm grateful that you stepped up and tried to find out where I was after I got taken. I'm glad that you and Matt found me and I'm glad that you're being supportive. But…I just keep getting the feeling that you feel like if you keep doing this, I'm just going to forget how you hurt me and we can go back to the way things were."

"I don't," Jay insisted, even though he had been silently hoping for just that. Sure he had known it wasn't a completely realistic want but it was what he wanted. His relationship with Jeff had been the best thing that had ever happened to him and he hated himself for fucking it up in a moment of weakness and stupidity.

"Liar," Jeff said softly. There was a hint of anger in his voice but it was overridden by how emotionally drained he was.

Jay pursed his lips together and shifted his weight around uncomfortably. "I do still love you…if that means anything."

Jeff rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Honestly…I can't even begin to really deal with all of this. I fucking loved you man and you broke my heart and destroyed my trust. I don't think I could ever go back…" He sighed at the look on Jay's face. "I know that's not what you want to hear but you just have to deal with it, okay?"

Jay didn't want to but he nodded his head. Deep down, he had known that answer was coming. He had violated Jeff's trust and asking for another chance right now was just way too much. Maybe someday, if he could gain back Jeff's trust somehow, maybe then they could try it again if Jeff was willing. But for now, it was just simply not meant to be.

…

_Randy rested his head against the chain from the swing, enjoying the cool breeze and the peacefulness of his surroundings. He was all alone here. There were no annoying cell mates always yelling shit and getting on his nerves and no guards that stared at him like he was a disgusting piece of shit just because he loved someone the way they never could. There was only one thing that would make this place absolutely perfect…_

_Almost as if on cue, Randy felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind. "Hi baby," Jeff said, hugging him tightly and resting his chin on his shoulder._

_Randy grinned and looked back at Jeff, his heart skipping a beat in his chest because he was so happy to see him. "Hi." He kissed his soft pink lips, taking great delight in the fact that Jeff didn't pull back. "I didn't think you'd come."_

"_Of course I came," Jeff said, shaking his head at Randy being silly enough to think he wouldn't show up. "I'll always come."_

"_Mhmm…" Randy said, smirking at the dirty connotations and laughing when Jeff playfully slapped his chest._

"_Pervert."_

"_Of course." Randy kissed Jeff again, this one lasting a lot longer than the first one. "I miss you."_

"_So come get me," Jeff replied. "I'm waiting for you."_

"_You said otherwise before."_

_Jeff waved his hand dismissively. "You can't always believe what you hear. You have to believe what's in your heart." He came around to Randy's front and sat down on his lap. "Do you love me?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Then forget everything else. You want me, come get me. Fight for me Randy. Fight for me."_

Randy woke up, hardly startled by the banging from the other prisoners. They didn't matter anymore. All that mattered now was the work he had to do.


	20. Chapter 20

Jeff sighed as he scrolled through all the songs that were on his I-pod. He had a giant canvas spread out across his living room floor and he had all his art supplies out and ready to use but he was lacking one thing: inspiration. He felt the need to create something because art helped him relax but he had no idea what to make. He had already tried to go outside and paint because the land he had grown up on usually inspired him but not today. So he had come back inside and hoped that maybe he would get inspiration there but still nothing. It was really starting to bother him. Usually he never had any trouble with inspiration. He could bang out art projects like clockwork but not anymore. Now he just felt like he was stuck in an artistic rut and he couldn't break free from it, no matter how hard he tried.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath. He put his I-pod to the side and flopped down on the couch, deciding to just give up on his artistic aspirations for awhile in favor of sulking. Matt and Gil were at the store, Jay had to go work a house show and Shannon was upstairs in the shower, so he finally got some time to himself. At first he had been glad for all the company because he had felt safer in numbers but eventually the constant company had taken its toll and he now was enjoying the small break.

He let out a big yawn and rubbed his eyes. He was so fucking tired but hadn't been getting very much sleep. Every night he was having nightmares and once he had one, he either had several more or every little noise woke him up so there was just no way for him to get rest. It was driving him nuts because he needed it so badly but he didn't know how to make it stop. That was probably the worst part about the entire situation. He didn't know how to help himself get over all of this, so he was frustrated and angry at himself on top of being scared and angry at Randy.

"Jeff?"

Jeff sat up just enough to see that Shannon had come back into the room before flopping back down completely flat. "What?"

"Are you alright?" Shannon knelt down beside the couch so he and Jeff could look eye to eye.

"Eh," was Jeff's response. If he said yes that would be a lie and Shannon would be all over his ass and if he told the truth and said no Shannon would be all over his ass anyway. So really, there was no winning for him.

Shannon gave him a very sympathetic look. "I'm sorry dude."

"Why are you sorry? It's not your fault."

"I should have found a way to stop Orton-"

"No. Don't do that man. Don't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault."

"But-"

"No. Orton's psychotic, there's no need for you to feel bad about anything. Just be thankful that you weren't hurt worse than you were." Jeff was getting his hand ready to smack Shannon if he wanted to keep trying to blame himself for this shit.

Shannon didn't look ready to just accept what Jeff was saying. "You're my best friend man. If there was a way I could go back and take all of this for you-"

Jeff's eyes widened and he immediately began shaking his head frantically. "No no no. As _your_ best friend I can't let you talk or think like that. I wouldn't wish that on anyone…well Randy I would but he's the only one." He sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. "But never you or Matt or any of the rest of you wishing you could take my place. I wouldn't be able to stand it if anything remotely like what happened to me happened to any of you."

"Yeah well, it shouldn't have happened to you," Shannon said unhappily.

Jeff could only shrug at that. He agreed with that statement but it didn't change the fact that it had happened. Nothing was ever going to change what happened, no matter how much he wanted it to. He had to just fucking find a way to deal with it and move on.

"You know, Matt and Gil want you to go talk to a therapist," Shannon said before Jeff could sink too deep into his thoughts.

Jeff sighed. He was very well aware of that but he hadn't exactly been all that receptive to the idea. The thought of sitting in a room and talking to some stranger about everything that had happened made his stomach twist into very tight knots. Sure that worked for some people but he just didn't feel comfortable with it. "I know. What do you think I should do?"

Shannon shrugged. "I don't know. I mean it could do you some good. Sometimes saying what you need to say to a stranger can do wonders." He got back up to his feet and walked over to the nearby table to grab the lamp that was sitting on it. "But it'll be awhile before you can get in to see a therapist and you need something to help you now." He handed Jeff the lamp. "Get up and break it."

Jeff blinked and frowned. "What?"

"Get up and break it. Come on, I know you're not deaf." Shannon grabbed Jeff and hauled him up to his feet. "Break the damn lamp."

"Why?"

"Just do it. Trust me, it'll be worth it."

Jeff gave him a good hard look before nodding and deciding to just go along with it. If nothing else, it would at least satisfy Shannon. He tightened his grip on the lamp and thought about just smashing it down on the ground before changing his mind and chucking it at the wall instead. The lamp broke on impact and the sound of the glass breaking stirred something inside of him, making him perk up and look at Shannon, who was nodding his approval.

"Try this now." Shannon handed Jeff a vase and laughed loudly when there was no hesitation on the older man's part this time. "Good!" He handed Jeff his ash tray and Jeff automatically chucked it even though it wasn't going to break from that. That continued for several minutes, Shannon handing Jeff anything that wasn't tied down so he could throw it at the wall. And once all that was thrown, he handed over a golf club and got the hell out of the way as Jeff began to hit anything and everything in his path. With every swing he pretended that he was swinging at Randy and it felt so fucking good. This was what he wanted to do. He wanted to take this fucking golf club and beat Randy's face in with it. He wanted to fucking kill him for everything he had done to him. He deserved it; Jeff never thought that way towards anyone but he did with Randy. Oh how he fucking wanted to do it to Randy.

"Mother fucker…fucking rape me…fuck you…fuck you fuck you FUCK YOU!" With one last mighty swing he drove the golf club directly into the TV, breaking the screen with the head of the club. After that he finally let it go he dropped down to his knees, his emotional exhaustion causing him to be completely physically spent. He just stayed there on the ground for what felt like forever, not moving or saying a word. All he did was breathe. It wasn't until he felt Shannon's hand on his shoulder that he turned his head around and buried his face into the younger man's stomach so his loud sobs could be at least somewhat muffled.

…

So far during his stay in prison Randy had done everything in his power to keep a low profile and stay away from all the other inmates. It hadn't exactly been the easiest thing to do, given that a lot of them knew who he was already. But he had somehow found a way to manage it. Not today though. No, today it was time to play his role as the resident wrestler and he took the risk of mingling with his fellow cell mates, weeding out the casual fans from the ones that really liked him. It was amazing what a few bored and desperate prisoners would do just for an autograph. All he had to do was some signing and answer some questions and butter them up and in return they promised to help him. Of course he knew that these men weren't the most reliable in the world but they were all he had and he needed them to come through for him.

One way or another, he needed to be free.

…

"So you not only trash your living room but you destroyed the TV while you were at it?" Matt said as he surveyed the damage. He and Gil had just gotten back and had found Jeff and Shannon stuffing their face with mint chocolate chip ice cream. Jeff's eyes were still a tiny bit red and puffy but if his brother and father noticed they didn't say anything about it.

"Yeah," Jeff said with a nod. "It's alright though I can afford another one."

"That's not the point though," Matt insisted. "You destroyed the TV! There were things I wanted to watch and now I can't watch them because the TV has a hole in it."

Gil chuckled as Matt continued to pout. "Oh come on now, it isn't all bad. If we really need entertainment we'll make you and your jimmy legs dance until you drop. Then you'll be too tired to complain about the broken TV."

Matt made his face at his dad while Shannon and Jeff laughed at his expense. "Thanks Dad. Thanks a lot."

"No problem son." Now Gil turned his attention to Shannon and Jeff, wrinkling his nose when he saw that they didn't even have bowls for their ice cream. They were just eating it straight out of the container. "So what was the point of doing all this?"

"Therapy," Shannon replied. "Jeff has let out a lot of anger and frustration and now the healing can maybe start to begin."

Gil immediately looked to Jeff for confirmation and Jeff gave it to him. "I feel a bit better," he admitted. "Destruction is good for the soul."

Gil chuckled at that. "Sometimes it is." He sat down on the couch, which was one of the only places that didn't have some kind of broken debris on it. "You know what else is good for your soul? Cleaning up your mess."

Jeff snorted and shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. I'm good leaving this mess the way it is." He ate one last spoonful of ice cream before getting up. "You can have the rest," he told Shannon. "I'm full." He went into the kitchen and put his spoon in the sink before heading into the bathroom. When he got in there he closed the door behind him and rinsed his face off with ice cold water. Shannon's little therapy session had worked, at least for the time being. For the first time in a long time he felt calm and at peace. He had taken out the anger and the pain and the hate on things that couldn't fight back and it had settled him. Maybe it wasn't going to be permanent solution and maybe the bad feelings would eventually come back but he lived in the moment and at this moment, he felt okay again-and that was enough for him.

…

Nobody was exactly sure how the riot started. In prison, fights always broke out just because people looked at each other the wrong way. Tonight though, it went beyond that though. It was insanely violent from the start and it got even worse in a hurry. The guards couldn't regain control no matter how hard they tried and to make matters even worse, several fires broke out, which caused the prisoners that weren't involved in the madness to break out in a full scale riot. During all of the madness, nobody paid any attention to Randy, who was the lone man not involved in the chaos. He swiped a set of keys from a guard that had been killed and made a break for it, breathing a sigh of relief when fresh air met his lungs once again.

_Oh Jeff, here I come darling._

…

Jeff woke up the next morning from a nightmare free night and he felt refreshed and okay. He still wasn't quite ready to be doing good yet but okay was better than what he had felt before. He stayed in bed for about a half hour after he initially woke up, just dozing off and on before finally deciding to stop being lazy and get up. He got in the shower and sang under his breath while he washed himself off, deciding all the while that he would once again go out and try to paint. Maybe now that he felt better he could find some sort of inspiration and be able to create something.

Once he was all cleaned up, dried off and dressed, he decided to change his hair up and he dyed it green with a blonde streak going through it. _That's better_, he thought to himself as he finally went downstairs to go get something to eat. He could hear Matt, Shannon and Gil all in the kitchen and he was about to ask them if they wanted to go out to eat when he picked up on the seriousness of their tones. _Oh boy, now what happened?_ He entered the kitchen and not only did they all turn to look at him, but Jay did as well. _When the hell did he get back?_ "What's going on?" He wasn't sure if he even wanted to know but he asked anyway. It was just one of those things he had to know.

Nobody was eager to speak up, which meant it was really really bad news. "Come on, just say it," he ordered. "Don't keep me in suspense here."

The hesitation continued until Gil finally decided to just go ahead and say it. "Son, we just got some really bad news. There was a riot at Randy's prison last night and he escaped during all the chaos."

Jeff's jaw drop, his body literally growing numb at the news. He immediately wanted to accuse his dad of making a sick joke but he couldn't do that. His father wouldn't joke about something like this. This was for real. _It's never going to end_, he realized as he sank back against the wall for support. _He's just going to keep coming and coming…_

"When I told Vince I was coming here to help keep an eye out on things, he told me to suggest you going into protective custody," Jay said, readying himself to spring up to his feet if he needed to go over there and catch Jeff if he fell. "And I don't think that's a bad idea. Staying here isn't safe. Randy will come straight here and there's so much woods here…" His voice trailed off for a second as he swallowed fearfully at whatever thought was going through his head. "I just don't think here is safe."

"I don't either," Matt agreed. "I think protective custody is the best way to go."

Jeff just stared blankly at all of them. Sure protective custody sounded great and all but it wouldn't work forever. It seemed like no matter what he did or where he went, it was only a matter of time before Randy got a hold of him once again. And he was tired of it. So fucking tired of all of it. Being stalked, scared, kidnapped, raped…the cops had already failed at containing Randy and Jeff couldn't trust them to keep him safe. They weren't going to be enough because Randy was out of his mind and beyond determined to have Jeff as his. There was only one way all of this could end.

"Jeff?" Gil said gently. "Can you say something son?"

Jeff pushed himself off the wall and straightened himself up as much as he could. "Forget the protective custody. I'm not doing it."

Shannon's eyes widened a bit. "Jeff I don't think-"

"There's no time for thinking Shanny. I know what I gotta do."

Matt's brow furrowed in worry. "What does that mean?"

"He won't stop until he's dead…and I think it's time for me to help him out in that department." With that being said, he turned on his heels and walked away, leaving the other four to digest that piece of information.


	21. Chapter 21

**This was supposed to be the final chapter, but I've come to realize having it all be in one was just going to be too rushed. So consider this part one to the finale of this story *nods***

…

Nobody realized just how serious Jeff was about that comment until Matt caught him the next day loading the boatload of guns that he had just purchased. "Holy shit," the older Hardy said under his breath. "Is this the Alamo and we're making our last stand?" He sighed when Jeff failed to even begin to crack a smile. "You got all of these for Randy huh?" He waited until Jeff nodded before speaking again. "You know I don't think you should be here waiting for him to show up. You should go somewhere safe and let me and-"

"No," Jeff said without hesitation. There was absolutely no way he was going to be moved on this. He didn't care what Matt or anyone else had to say on the matter. He was staying right where he was. "I need to be here."

"Jeff-"

"No Matt. I need to be here." Jeff already had one of the guns strapped to him and he handed another one off to Matt. He needed to give his dad, Jay and Shannon one too before distributing the others all around the house just in case. "Don't you understand? I'm the one that has to end this." He knew that that wasn't something Matt and the others wanted to accept but he didn't care. In his heart he knew that this was the way that it had to be and he had come to accept it.

Matt pressed his lips together tightly and shifted around uncomfortably on his feet. Deep down, he knew that Jeff had a really good point and was possibly completely right about this. But right or not, it didn't seem very smart to him and it didn't change the fact that he didn't want Jeff doing this. Randy was so single minded in his quest for Jeff and he just couldn't stomach the possibility of this going wrong and having Jeff get hurt again. He just couldn't do it.

Jeff noticed the look on Matt's face and knew what it meant. "Matt I love you," he said, running his hand through his hair before getting up and forcing eye contact with his older brother. "And I know you don't want me to do this."

"That might be a bit of an understatement," Matt said with a shake of his head.

"I know." Jeff rubbed his eyes tiredly. He hadn't really slept since finding out the news of Randy's escape and he knew that until this was all over, there was no way he could rest peacefully again. "But I'm doing it. This is going to end one way or another-I'll fucking make sure of that." He gave Matt a quick hug, trying to find some kind of comfort in his brother's embrace before letting go and continuing on with the loading and distributing of his guns. Matt watched him silently for a few minutes before letting out a long breath and stepping up to help him out. Jeff raised his eyebrows in surprise but then managed to weakly smile. Matt gave him one in return and then they worked in silence, no other words even needing to be said.

…

Randy drove the semi-truck down the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that it felt like he was going to break his fingers. He couldn't relax, no matter how much distance he put between himself and the prison. He knew that he was a wanted man and there was probably only a matter of time before he was recaptured. As of now he was disguised as a trucker, complete with a red flannel shirt and ratty jeans, a red mullet style wig, a trucker hat and giant sunglasses that hid a good portion of his face. He had walked by a group of wrestling fans earlier in the day and they hadn't even looked twice at him, so that told him his disguise was effective enough for right now. He didn't know how long it would hold up though or if it would do any good against anyone really looking at him so that was why he was speeding as much as he dared to down the highway, determined to get to North Carolina as fast as he possibly could. He knew that logically, this wasn't the smartest plan in the world. This was exactly the move people had to be expecting from him but he couldn't bring himself to not do it. He _needed_ to get to Jeff. It felt like he couldn't breathe without him and that was not a feeling he could go on having. So off to North Carolina he was going, not giving a damn about the consequences.

One way or another, he was going to get Jeff once and for all.

…

The worst part was the waiting. That was what Jeff decided to himself as he tried to pass the time by doodling. He really could be using some sleep but he knew that as soon as he went to bed and laid down that he wouldn't be getting any kind of sleep. His mind would just start racing and would psyche him out of being able to sleep. But the problem with that was the more he avoided sleeping, the more exhausted he would get and that would weaken his defenses and leave him more vulnerable for an attack. And as he saw it, he had been vulnerable enough as it was to Randy and he didn't need for that shit to happen again.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes, deciding to forego the doodling and maybe try making something. It was about ten at night and he wasn't actually hungry even after the complete lack of dinner he had had but he needed to try to do something to pass the time. He walked towards the kitchen, his nerves so badly frayed that he jumped at every little noise that he heard. It angered him that he was reduced to this. Trapped in his own house, afraid that every noise he heard was actually Orton hiding in the shadows…he was so sick of this shit and just so ready for it be over.

When he got into the kitchen he frowned when he saw Jay sitting by the window, holding the gun Jeff had given him and he was keeping a watchful eye out. "You on guard or something?" Jeff asked, fighting off yet another yawn.

Jay nodded. "I am actually. Kimo and Yuk are out making patrols through the property and I know Shannon and Matt are supposed to be keeping watch too."

Jeff blinked in surprise. "You guys are really doing this?"

"Of course!" Jay looked shocked that Jeff was even remotely surprise. "Marty, Shane, the GCI crew and Monster are all going to come by and help out tomorrow so we can all get some sleep." He frowned and shook his head when he noticed that Jeff still had that same look on his face. "Come on, don't look at me like that. You're important to all of us Jeff and we'll be damned if you have to do this on your own."

Jeff just stared at Jay for the longest time, unable to move, speak or even properly think. Finally he ended up launching himself forward, surprising both Jay and himself by wrapping his arms around him and hugging him for all he was worth. Jay's eyes widened and he froze up, unsure about what to do at first. Finally he decided to just hug Jeff back, resisting the urge to pull him into his lap and bury his face in his neck like he used to do. He didn't want to push his luck too far.

"Thank you," Jeff said, breathing in Jay's scent and internally cringing because now he remembered just how much he missed laying in Jay's arms at night. Right at that moment, it would have been so easy for him to kiss the older man and sink into his embrace, just like he used to do. In fact, he almost did it. But then he stopped himself because he knew that he would regret it later and he forced himself to take a step back. "Think Matt will mind if I go ask him to stand guard in my room while I try to get some sleep?"

Jay snorted. "I think he would be insulted if you didn't do that."

Jeff nodded and started to leave, intending to go and do just that.

"Jeff?"

"Huh?" Jeff stopped and turned back around to face Jay. "What?"

Jay started to say something but then stopped and just stared at Jeff for a very long couple of minutes. "Try to get some real sleep," he finally said weakly. "You need it."

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "You trying to say I look like shit or something?"

"No…but you do look like you could use it."

"Yeah…" Jeff sighed and nodded a bit before leaving the room. He knew that that was the truth but he still wasn't sure if real sleep was possible. He was going to give it a shot though. Even a little would be better than none at all.

…

Randy washed his hands furiously, constantly checking the door in case anyone decided to come in. About seventy miles back, he had been forced to pull into a gas station to fill up the tank of the semi and had ended up being recognized by the clerk running the register at the station. In a state of panic, he had killed him and had been forced to dump his body as far away as he dared to drive with it. And now he was cleaning himself up, absolutely furious with this turn of events. He was only a hundred miles away from Cameron and he was already saddled with doing everything he could to keep out of sight of the authorities. Having to kill some stupid bastard who couldn't mind his own business was not part of the plan.

He finished washing his hands and dried them off with some paper towels all while staring at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes had very noticeable purple bags under them. He hadn't really been sleeping since his escape. He couldn't afford to. Every moment of his freedom was precious. Once he had Jeff again he could maybe think about sleeping. Not a second before though.

He threw the paper towels away and slipped out of the restroom, luckily going unnoticed as he walked to the truck. He needed to just put all of this behind him. Yes it had been a crappy distraction but he was so close to Jeff that he could taste it. He needed to just pull himself together and focus on figuring out a way to get Jeff away from the force field of people he probably had around him. He did have a couple of ideas…it was all just a matter of getting to Cameron and doing them.

_Once I get to Cameron it will all work itself out. It will. It's just a matter of getting there and making it work._

…

"This is not fair," Shannon complained with a pout. He glared at everyone around him before folding his arms over his chest and shaking his head. "You guys are all cheating. How can you guys do this to me? I'm your buddy Shanny! This is not right!"

Jeff snorted loudly at that. After only getting some sleep because he was so exhausted, he had been pulled into a game of Monopoly with Matt, Shannon and Jay. It had been going on for two and a half hours straight now and Shannon was almost bankrupt, which of course didn't set well with the Prince of Punk. "You're just saying that because you're losing."

"Yeah really," Matt agreed. He was the clear winner so far so he was happier than a pig in shit at the moment. "Buck up Shanny and take this whooping like a man."

"Fuck you Jimmy Legs!" Shannon reached over the board to give Matt a forearm to the face.

"Hey hey hey! Watch it!" Jay gave Shannon an irritated glare. "Don't do that shit on my turn or I'll kick you so hard in the groin your nuts will bust."

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try bitch!"

Jay seemed to be about to do just that when Marty came running into the house, totally out of breath and his eyes wide. "Your dad's house…fire! It's on fire!"

Jeff and the others were instantly up to their feet and running out the door. Gil was upstairs here so it wasn't like they were afraid that he was trapped inside. But he did have dogs in there and in the yard right by it, and it was just one of those things that they had to go run and see for themselves. Matt already had his cell phone out and was dialing the number of the fire department as he ran. Jeff was in the lead initially but then slowed down and looked back towards his house. What could have made Gil's house set on fire? He didn't leave anything dangerous on or plugged in. That wasn't his style. And the fire just seemed to be too…convenient.

"Uh oh," he muttered under his breath. He didn't even shout to the others to come back with him. He just booked it back towards his house, realizing that this was a distraction for a trap-and his father was getting caught right in it. _Randy fucking Orton….you're are so fucking DEAD when I get my hands on you._


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: This is the last chapter of this story but with fanfic not working correctly, I won't be able to mark it as such. **

**Also I've got a little oneshot up called Watchful Eyes that I would like to pimp out right at this moment (it only took forever to get around fanfic's PMS and get it up). So yeah…cheap plug ftw**

…

"Ssshhh now just stop," Randy said as he made sure Gil was all nice and tied up and gagged. With everyone all running out to see the fire it had been easy for him to slip into the house and get the better of the older man. "Come on now, you'll just hurt yourself if you keep this up." The tone of his voice was flat, which failed to give away the fact that when he said Gil would hurt himself if he kept struggling, he actually meant he was the one that was going to do the hurting. "Now that's better," he said as Gil reluctantly stopped struggling for the moment.

Gil sure didn't seem to think it was better. He gave Randy a really dirty and hateful look, which just made Randy tsk and shake his head.

"Come on, don't give me that look." Randy sighed when Gil continued giving him the death glare. "Are you afraid that I'm here to hurt Jeff? Is that it?" He shook his head. "I'm not here to hurt Jeff at all. I'm not here to really hurt anyone…unless they get in my way to Jeff."

Gil just kept right on glaring. Randy was completely out of his mind. Just the look in his eyes was completely unsettling and the way he was talking was just making it even worse. He needed to somehow warn Jeff that Randy was there but there was no way for him to do it. His hands were tied so tightly together that the circulation was almost all the way cut off in them and he had a gag shoved so far in his mouth it was nearly choking him.

Randy smirked. Gil was providing him some amusement but he was also feeling the need to send a message to anyone who was looking to stop him right now. He backed up just a bit, fully intending on driving his foot into the old man's skull when he heard a noise from downstairs that made him stop in his tracks. He made sure to be perfectly still, barely even breathing until he heard the noise again. "It looks like we have company Gilbert," he whispered. Very carefully he picked up the Legend and put him in the nearby closet. "Stay there. I might be back for you." He closed the door behind him, not paying any attention to the muffled sounds Gil was making. He was much much more interested in finding out just who was downstairs. _Be Jeff,_ he silently wished as he grabbed the tire iron he had brought with him just in case he ran into any trouble. _Come on be Jeff. Make this easy for me once and be him._ It was always so fucking difficult to get him. Jeff always felt the need to fight him and everyone else always had to get in the fucking way. It was infuriating and he wasn't going to put up with it anymore. He was going to get what was his and anyone who tried to stop him this time would feel the brunt of ALL of his frustrations.

…

Jeff's heart was pounding inside of his chest as he took out his gun and gripped it tightly. As soon as he entered the house he knew he shouldn't have gone in there all by himself. He should have gotten someone else to come back in with him. Even the gun he was holding didn't feel like it was enough. Not with the way his whole body was shaking and how sweaty his hands had gotten. It felt like the gun could slip out of his hands at any minute. It was too late to go back now. He was in there and he had to get Gil out of there as soon as possible. He knew all too well how dangerous Randy was and he couldn't even stand the thought of him hurting his dad. His dad was old, there was no getting around that fact and he couldn't defend himself the way he would need to against Randy.

_Breathe,_ he told himself as he crept through the house in search of either Randy or his dad. _Just breathe you have to breathe…_

Breathing was easier said than done of course. His chest was all tight which made getting any oxygen in really hard. And the pounding of his heart was getting even harder; he could literally feel it going up against his chest and it was making him feel sick to his stomach. Still he went on though, trying to be as quiet as possible as he did his search. Of course, seeing as how he had to be quiet, he ended up tripping over his own shoelaces and fell against the wall, making a thumping noise that sounded fifty times louder than it actually was. The picture that was on the wall almost fell on his impact but he quickly grabbed on to it, mentally berating himself for that slip-up. Once the picture was back in place and he was done scolding himself he continued on, slipping into the kitchen and looking around. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing straight up and it felt like he was being watched from every angle. He checked under in the pantry, back in the laundry room and even under the table because he was so paranoid for any sign of Randy. He didn't find any in there but it didn't make him feel better. It just put him even more on edge.

He took a deep breath and walked as quietly as he could, resisting the urge to call out for Gil. He couldn't risk Randy hearing him and knowing he was there. He was hoping that he would have the element of surprise on his side. He needed to end this and he needed every advantage on his side. He knew Orton would be coming but the way it was happening had caught him completely off guard and threw him off his game. He had to fucking recover though. He had to suck it the hell up and recover and end this. Permanently.

…

Randy watched Jeff with narrow eyes from his hiding spot in the shadows. He had seen the gun in Jeff's hands and it angered him immensely. What the fuck was Jeff doing with that? How could he have that? These questions repeated themselves over and over again in Randy's brain. At first he tried to deny that that was what it was but there really was no getting around it. So once it sunk into his brain that Jeff was armed the anger quickly began to take over. There was absolutely no doubt that Jeff was intending to use that gun against him. And that hurt. It hurt so bad that he couldn't even do anything for what felt like forever. Jeff was planning on shooting him. He had certainly heard hateful things come out of Jeff's mouth in all the time they had spent with each other but this…this was different. This wasn't just a bunch of words. It was a weapon and it was pretty much just a knife to his chest.

He looked around suspiciously, his defenses completely up in case Jeff hadn't come in on his own. He was pretty sure he had, given that there was a pretty big fire that was providing a very nice distraction. However, even if there was nobody else in there that wouldn't last forever. They would be coming back eventually and he needed to be gone when that happened. He had wanted to be gone with Jeff but seeing the weapon in the older man's hands had made him so angry that he could feel any train of rational thought he had slip away from him. This was the way Jeff wanted it to be? This was how he thought it was going to end. Fine. Then that was how it would be. It wasn't what Randy wanted but it wasn't up to him anymore. His body was moving on it's own accord, making him come out of his hiding spot and approach Jeff from behind, raising the tire iron above his head…

…

"Holy fucking shit," Matt muttered under his breath as he and the others watched the fire rage out of control. The fire department was on its way but it was really already too late for them to do much. The fire had been bad when they had gotten to the house and it wasn't really getting any better. The house he and Jeff grew up in, the house his dad had lived in for so long was just burning away and he was helpless to do anything about it.

Shannon nodded his agreement and looked over at Marty, who was on the phone talking to Mark, who had called just moments ago and who Matt hadn't been able to talk to because he had still been speechless. Mark would have been there himself during all of this but he had had his own personal emergencies to deal with and nobody had expected him to hang around. "This is fucked up…"

Matt nodded, feeling just numb by the situation. Gil wasn't out there with him and he was glad for that. He didn't want his dad seeing this…he wasn't even sure how he would get the will to even say it. He had been through this with Jeff when his place went down but Jeff wasn't his dad. That fact just seemed to change everything for him.

"Dude, where the hell is Jeff?" Kimo suddenly asked.

Matt's eyes widened as he looked around. Jeff was nowhere to be seen and that didn't set well with him at all. He knew Jeff had been running with them and once he had saw the fire he hadn't even thought about his brother really…he just kind of assumed Jeff was right there with him, watching their childhood home burn to the ground.

"You think he went back to tell the Legend?" Shannon asked.

Matt shook his head, his feet already taking him back in the direction of Jeff's place. He didn't know what the deal was but he knew that he suddenly had this giant knot of uneasiness in his stomach. Something just was very wrong with the situation and he just knew he had to get back to Jeff's as fast as possible. Something bad was going to happen if he didn't.

…

Jeff heard the floor creak behind him and he whirled around, his arm raising the gun as he did so. He saw Randy bringing the tire iron down towards his head and he moved away mostly in time, still getting hit hard enough to stun him but not hard enough to knock him out or anything. He dodged the next blow fast and he tried to back up to get some distance between him and Randy but Randy swung the weapon in a different direction, this time managing to catch him right in the ribs with it. He doubled over in pain and the next thing he knew he was falling to the ground hard, the gun being kicked right out of his hands before his wrist was stomped on really hard. It literally felt like something broke right at that moment and he screamed in pain.

"Oh I'm sorry, did that hurt?" Randy asked, his voice deranged and nasty. "I'm sure it doesn't hurt as bad as it would have when you would have SHOT me!"

Jeff's eyes widened. Oh shit…Randy must have seen him coming with the gun and that had just set him off. _Now instead of coming to rape me and make me his unwilling lover boy he looks like he wants to kill me…not sure which one is better…_

Randy raised the tire iron up above his head again but before he could bring it down Jeff managed to get his foot up and he kicked Randy hard, not sure whether he kicked him in the stomach or the groin. It really didn't matter anyway. It just allowed him to get Randy to drop the weapon and put enough space between the both of them to allow him to scramble for the gun once more. Just as he was about to grab it though he felt Randy grab his ankle and yank him back hard. He yelled loudly and struggled hard but couldn't break free from Randy's grip. Instead he found himself being rolled over to his back and Randy's fist was driven into his face hard. His head rocked to the side, his lip busting open on impact.

"You like that Jeff?" Randy yelled as he straddled Jeff, pummeling him as hard as he could. He was so angry he could barely even see straight. "Huh? You fucking like that?"

Jeff responded to that by fighting back as violently as he could. His lip was busted open, it felt like a tooth had been knocked loose and he was sure to have a barrage of bruises later if he lived to tell about this but he couldn't focus on any of that. Instead he kept fighting, actually managing to roll them over so he was the one on top and hitting Randy. He hit him so hard he broke several of his knuckles, an injury that was well worth the pain. He wanted to make Randy hurt for everything he had done to him and the people he cared about.

Randy let out an animalistic snarl and shot his head up hard, head butting Jeff right in the nose. It broke on impact and as the blood gushed out of it Randy pushed him off and resumed the mount position, wrapping his hands around Jeff's throat and squeezing hard. Jeff started clawing at his hands desperately, not only unable to breathe but also choking on his own blood, which was going right down his throat.

"Come on you fucking bastard," Randy growled. He tightened his grip on Jeff's neck even more as he saw the way Jeff's eyes were widening in ever growing fear. "Come on Jeffy that's it. Die for me baby die for me…"

Jeff reached up and tried to rake Randy's eyes to get him to let go but he was getting too weak to do any real damage to him. His vision was starting to get blurry and he knew that if he passed out he was finished. Randy would either take him again or would just keep choking him until he was dead. Either way, he was fucking done for.

Randy smirked, so hypnotized by the way Jeff was fading on him that he didn't see or hear Matt coming up behind him. He sure as hell realized it seconds later though, when he felt his own tire iron crash down on the back of his skull. He was nearly knocked unconscious with the blow but he managed to stay awake and scramble back as Matt whacked him again, this time on his left shoulder.

"Fucking son of a whore!" Matt yelled, just swinging the tire iron over and over again. He wasn't even paying attention to where he was aiming his shots. He was just swinging, willing to hit Randy anywhere because he was tired of this. He was so fucking tired of this that he was literally sick over it. He wanted to puke it was so fucking fucked up and disgusting.

Jeff coughed violently and rolled over on to his stomach, spitting out a huge amount of blood. He could hear Matt and he felt relieved knowing he was there. However, he knew damn well they weren't out of the woods and he crawled on his stomach for the gun, which was sitting there so close yet so fucking far…

Randy kicked Matt in between his legs out of desperation and as the older Hardy doubled over he snatched the tire iron back from him. Jeff saw this and faster than he could even think he grabbed the gun and sat up, firing it as fast as he could until there were no more bullets left in it. Every bullet in the gun pierced Randy's body and for a moment he just stood there, his eyes wide with shock. Then he tried to go towards Jeff but ended up dropping down to his knees, the blood spilling out of him fast and staining the floor. He opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a low croak and more blood. Jeff scrambled back just in case and he and Matt just watched as Randy fell the rest of the way to the floor, dead just seconds later and leaving them at a complete loss for words.

…

While the firefighters put out the fire at Gil's house, Matt called the police to Jeff's place while Jeff went and found Gil tied up and gagged in one of the upstairs closets. When the cops arrived both Matt and Jeff talked to them at length while Gil went to go see the damage to his home. Jeff was numb during the entire process. It all just felt like one gigantic dream that he couldn't wake up from. He wasn't even sure how he should react. He did feel relieved because this was finally over for good this time. Randy was dead, he couldn't ever hurt him again. But even with his relief he couldn't feel any real joy in the situation. He felt that Randy deserved what he got but he just couldn't feel overly happy that he took another person's life, even if they had it coming. It just wasn't something he was capable of doing.

It seemed to take forever but finally the cops got done questioning him and Matt and the coroner took Randy's body away to do whatever it was they were looking to do with it. Jeff couldn't really bring himself to put much thought into the situation. As soon as the cops were gone he couldn't even go outside to his dad and deal with the fire situation. He felt like a horrible son for that but he couldn't help it. He just dragged himself up to his room and fell on to his bed, passing out from exhaustion within seconds and not waking up again until two days later.

…

When the news of Randy's death broke and all the circumstances around it, the media swarmed Jeff's house to try to get him to talk about the situation. Jeff however, was absolutely mum on the subject. He stayed inside the entire time, doing his best to just ignore the vultures as they circled him. He was hoping they would just go away on their own but of course they showed no sign of doing that. It wasn't until Gil pulled the old fashioned Southern dad move of going out to the porch with a shotgun did they leave, although it was easy to tell that they weren't happy about it at all.

"Hallelujah," Shannon said as the last of them pulled away from the house. "I thought they wouldn't ever leave."

Gil shook his head. "They sure as hell didn't want to. I thought I was going to have to shoot somebody for real there for a minute." He sat down in the chair and put the gun down by his feet. He was staying with Matt now and was waiting to collect the insurance on his house before figuring out what the hell he was going to do next. "Thankfully I didn't though."

"Yeah really," Matt agreed. He was standing by the kitchen door, totally keeping a watchful eye on Jeff while trying to act like that wasn't what he was doing. "What do you guys want for dinner? You want me to make something or you want to order out?"

"Well if you're cooking then I say we order out," Jay said quickly. "Last time I ate your cooking I had the shits for the week."

"Oh now why did I need to know that?" Gil asked in exasperation as Matt shot him the finger. Shannon however, looked relieved at that news.

"So I wasn't the only one!"

Jeff burst out laughing at that. He had just been sitting there, keeping quiet as possible while lost in his own thoughts. The numbness had worn off and now he was just a giant mixed up mess of emotions. He was still relieved it was all over yet he was also still angry at Randy and also angry at himself and wandering if he could have done anything to prevent all of this. He had been hurt horribly by Randy's obsession with him but because of the fact that the suffering hadn't been just his own, he felt horribly guilty. Matt, Jay, his dad, Shannon…they all had gotten hurt by this too and it was his fault.

The others looked surprised at his outburst and as suddenly as it happened, it ended and he shifted uncomfortably in all of their gazes. He didn't like it how they all stared at him. It was like they were expecting him to break like a piece of glass smashed against the ground and he hated it. That wasn't what he wanted to do. He wanted…well he didn't know for sure. He just knew he didn't want to do that.

The phone rang, saving them all from the awkward silence. "I've got it," Matt said. He walked over to it and picked it up, obviously preparing to tell another reporter to go fuck off. However, within seconds of saying "hello" he got a really surprised look on his face and he was singing quite the different tune. "Uh…hold on a minute." He put his hand over the mouth part of the phone and looked at Jeff. "It's Orton's mother…she wants to talk to you."

Jeff's eyes widened in shock and he just sat there for a moment, not even processing that. "Orton's mom?"

"Yeah. I could tell her it's not a good time."

For whatever reason Jeff decided not to have Matt do that. He took the phone from him and got up so he could go talk somewhere more privately. "Hello?"

"Hello." This sounded just as awkward for her as it was for him. "I'm…I'm Elaine Orton."

"Hi…" He locked himself in the bathroom and leaned back against the door for support.

"I just um…I needed to speak to you on behalf of the family." Her voice was faint and Jeff could tell she had been crying, which just made him feel like shit. "I know you might not accept this because I mean it's not much really but um…I would like to apologize to you on the behalf of the Orton family."

Jeff blinked in surprise on that one. An apology…after everything he was getting an apology? He almost said something really nasty in return to that but then he suddenly stopped himself. This wasn't her fault or anyone else's in that family (unless they raised him to be a crazed obsessive guy who couldn't take no for an answer) and he didn't need to take shit out on them. "…Thank you," he said slowly.

"I talked to Bob and we agreed that we would help your father buy or build a new house," she went on, sounding relieved that he didn't automatically give her hell. "And if there's any medical bills you need taken care of or just anything we're willing to help. I know it can't take what he did back but we just…"

"I appreciate the offer," he said, rubbing his face tiredly. "I do really but you don't have to do that for me. And you'll have to talk to my dad himself about what you want to do for him. I can't speak on what he'll want."

"I understand," she said. "If you change your mind though, please feel free to let me know."

"Okay."

There was a very long and awkward silence.

"Jeff?" Elaine's voice was hesitant again, like she was afraid to go into this subject but unable to not do it. "I can't pretend to imagine what Randy put you through…I can't imagine how you feel right now…but I just…I just want to ask that you don't hold on to it forever. Don't let what he did define you from now on. He don't…he don't deserve that."

Jeff blinked, not sure what to say to that. "Thanks," was what he finally came back with. "I gotta um…"

"I understand. Goodbye Jeff…and I really am sorry."

He thanked her again and then hung up. For a long time he just stood there, not really doing or thinking about anything. Finally he looked at himself in the mirror and mulled over Elaine's words. In his mulling, he realized something very important: she was right. He couldn't let Randy's bullshit define him for the rest of his life. He couldn't hold on to all of this forever. It couldn't be helped for awhile but eventually he would have to learn how to let it go and just put it in the past. He had been through hell and back and he was still alive…that meant he was stronger for it and hating Randy forever and holding on to all of it would just put that strength to waste. Maybe he wouldn't ever truly forgive and forget but he could at least put it behind him.

"Jeff?" Jay knocked on the door loudly. "You okay in there?"

Jeff nodded, staring intently at his reflection in the mirror and giving it a small, half smile. "Yeah…I'm fine…I'm just fine."


End file.
